EFCC seizes travel passport of Betta Edu,  Sadiya Umar-Farooq

 

The passports of the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, and her predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouq have been seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as investigation into the Humanitarian ministry scandals continues.

The scandal involving Edu burst open after a leaked memo revealed that she directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer N585m to a private account owned by one Oniyelu Bridget, who the ministry claimed currently serves as the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups.

Subsequently, the minister was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on Monday and she was invited by the EFCC.

On Tuesday, she visited the anti-graft agency’s headquarters around 10 am to answer questions over alleged financial corruption rocking her  ministry.

Meanwhile, while the EFCC officials were interrogating the suspended minister over the N44bn fraud uncovered in the ministry, it was learnt that managing directors of three commercial banks were also questioned on Tuesday over the fraud.

Prior to the scandal,  Edu’s predecessor, Umar-Farouq, had been quizzed by investigators for 12 hours on Monday in connection with the probe into the N37.1bn allegedly laundered during her tenure in office, through a contractor, James Okwete.

Also under investigation is the suspended chief executive officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, Halima Shehu.

However, as these investigations continue, it was reliably gathered from that the passports of the three women have been seized by the EFCC.

A source disclosed  that the passports were confiscated to deter them from fleeing the country while the investigation into scandals in the ministry continued.

“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