The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu on bail after hours of questioning her about the approval she gave for the transfer of approximately N585 million from the ministry’s funds to a civil servant’s private account.
President Bola Tinubu suspended Edu from office on Monday and directed the EFCC to probe the approval and other embarrassing disclosures, following a public uproar over the issue.
The EFCC quickly summoned her to its headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
She accepted the invitation on Tuesday morning and was remanded in detention until nightfall, when she was given bail.
On Wednesday, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale confirmed to reporters that Edu was released on bail on Tuesday, but he would not comment on the terms.
“She was given bail yesterday night. I want to tell you that the investigation still continues,” Mr. Oyewale noted.
When asked about the bail restrictions and the outcome of the questioning sessions on Tuesday, Mr. Oyewale answered, “I cannot speak further on the details.”
According to reports, the EFCC began questioning Mrs. Edu on Tuesday morning.
According to a highly credible source within the anti-graft agency, the suspended minister arrived at the commission’s offices on Tuesday morning.
“An official invitation by the commission was sent to her on Monday, and she honored the invitation on Tuesday.
“She is being interrogated by the commission, and she is expected to give proper insight into the issue at hand,’’ the source said.
Edu is being interrogated over the scandal, including the approval of the payment of hundreds of millions of naira into the private accounts of civil servants.
Mrs. Edu has come under criticism from Nigerians for ordering the transfer of N585.2 million into the private bank account of a civil servant, who is the accountant in charge of grants for vulnerable Nigerians.
A few days after Mrs. Edu ordered Ms. Shehu’s suspension for alleged financial wrongdoing, records leaked to the public revealed that she ordered the transfer of N585.2 million to the private bank account of a civil servant who is the accountant in charge of grants for vulnerable Nigerians.
According to a leaked memo, the minister requested in December that Oluwatoyin Madein, the federation’s accountant general, transfer funds from the National Social Investment Office’s account to the private account of Bridget Oniyelu, the accountant of a federal government poverty intervention project called Grants for Vulnerable Groups, which falls under Mrs. Edu’s ministry.
The request violates several articles of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009, which aim to combat fraud and other forms of corruption in government business.
Mrs. Edu, speaking through her media aide, Rasheed Zubair, on Friday, emphasized that the act is legitimate in the country’s civil service. She said that she was being targeted because of her stance against corruption.
However, Chapter Seven, Section 713 of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009 states that “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account.”
It also added that “any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.”
