Betta Edu: EFCC Questions Banks CEOs over Alleged N44.5bn Fraud
As part of efforts to unravel the allegation of fraud against former minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is currently interrogating Chief Executive Officers and Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Providus Bank, and Jaiz Bank.
The Senior Bank executives are currently being quizzed by EFCC interrogators at the commission headquarters, Jabi, Abuja. The suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, is currently being held and is undergoing interrogation by the EFCC
Also, Halima Shehu, the embattled Co-ordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency domiciled in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation is being probed by the EFCC over an alleged \u8358?44bn fraud.\par
Confirming the probe of the senior bank executives to our correspondent on Tuesday, an EFCC source revealed that Zenith, Providus, and Jaiz banks are being questioned over the \u8358?44.5bn fraud uncovered in the ministry involving Edu and Shehu.\par
The source said reportedly said the CEOs and MDs of Zenith Bank, Providus Bank, and Jaiz Bank are currently being grilled by our interrogators here at the headquarters.
They were invited and are being probed in connection with the uncovered fraud and the 585million involving Halima Shehu and Betta Edu.
The suspended minister and the coordinator have both made new revelations during their interrogations, and the investigation is still ongoing. Edu was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, over an alleged N585m cash transfer saga.
The suspended minister was invited by the anti-graft agency in compliance with Tinubu’s order that a comprehensive investigation encompassing her activities in the ministry be carried out, a top source in the anti-graft commission told reporters.
Similarly, the EFCC had seized the passports of the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, and her predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, over the ongoing investigations into scandals in the ministry.
The scandal involving Edu burst open after a leaked memo revealed that the suspended minister 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.
The minister had claimed that the N585m payment was meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states, describing the allegations against her as baseless. Dangote Reacts to EFCC Visit to Headquarters
The Media Assistant to the minister, Rasheed Olarewaju, said in a statement that it was legal within the civil service for such payments to be made into private accounts of staff members, especially project accountants.
The President on Monday suspended Edu and directed her to hand over to the permanent secretary in the ministry. On Tuesday, Edu honoured the EFCC invitation and she was subjected to marathon interrogation by investigators.
It was learnt that her personal and official passports were taken away by detectives and she was barred from travelling out of the country.
Her 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.
The ex-minister’s passport was also seized as part of her bail conditions before she was subsequently released late Monday night.
By Dayo Badmus
