Jonathan Nwokpor
Due to ongoing investigations into issues inside the ministry, the passports of Betta Edu, the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and Sadiya Umar-Farouq, her predecessor, have been confiscated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC.
The former Minister’s and Edu’s passports were confiscated, according to a trustworthy source within the EFCC, to prevent them from leaving the nation while the investigation was ongoing.
“The commission has seized the passports of the two former ministers, Sadiya Umar-Farouq and Betta Edu.
“We have also seized Mrs Halima Shehu’s passport pending the conclusion of investigations. The commission does not want to risk having any of them leave the country while they still have questions to answer,” he said.
According to ZINGTIE, Edu showed up at the anti-graft agency’s headquarters on Tuesday at approximately ten in the morning to respond to inquiries over the suspected financial corruption that has the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Ministry reeling.
The development follows the disclosure in a leaked memo that Edu asked the Federation‘s Accountant General to transfer N585 million intended for vulnerable individuals into a personal account held by Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu asked Edu to conduct a thorough inquiry and review of the ministry’s operations in response to the outcry from Nigerians.
In response to allegations of fraud carried out when she was in charge, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, a former minister under President Muhammadu Buhari at the time, was also questioned.
The two are under investigation for alleged fraud totaling more than N40 billion.
Tuesday saw the EFCC call the chief executive officers of Zenith, Providus, and Jaiz banks to its office about the investigations of Edu and Sadiya Umar-Farouq.
The EFCC is additionally investigating Halima Shehu, the National Social Investment Programme Agency’s suspended chief executive officer.
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