As the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, questions the ‘disbursement’ of N585,189,500.00 into a personal account, the Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD), a public procurement advocacy group, has urged President Bola Tinubu to be impartial in the face of massive corruption allegations rocking the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), while maintaining that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Beta Edu should be suspended and investigated like NSIP CEO, Mrs. Halima Shehu.
Meanwhile, another Civil rights advocacy group, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA), has asked Dr. Edu, to resign or excuse herself from duty and report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to explain how any kind of financial rules under operation in public offices, allows for public fund to be warehoused in a private individual’s bank account.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, in a viral document personally signed by her and directed to the Office of the AGF, instructed the payment of the funds to one Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.
The document also showed that the payment of the N585.189 million grant, meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos states, was made into Oniyelu’s account.
But reacting to the leaked document, Rasheed Zubair, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Minister in a statement on Friday, said the payment for the vulnerable group followed due process.
According to Zubair, the payment of the grant to the account of Bridget was because the fellow currently serves as the Project Accountant of Grants for Vulnerable Groups.
However, the Accountant General of the Federation said she did not honour the request adding that it was not her responsibility to make payments for projects and programmes on behalf of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Likewise, NEFGAD in a press statement signed and released in Abuja on Saturday through its head of office, Mr Akingunola Omoniyi, said ‘’the recent development in the Humanitarian office has provided president Tinubu a golden opportunity to tell Nigerians and the whole world that he is ready and willing to tackle corruption in a fair, just and impartial manner by also applying same disciplinary measure (suspension) meted on NSIP CEO, Mrs. Halima Shehu on the Minister for Humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Mrs. Beta Edu.’’
Akingunola pointed out that ‘’apart from the fact that Dr. Edu and Mrs. Halima Shehu are from different geographical divide of the country, the tendency and pattern of the allegations involving the duo are too identical and should not have attracted diffrent approaches and measures in dealing with them by the president.
‘’Directing payment of public fund into private account by a public officer is a serious procurent and fiscal malfeasance that attracts serious penalty under extant laws, regulations and rules including the public procurement, Fiscal Responsibility, Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences (ICPC), Code of Conduct Acts and the Anti-mobey Laundering (prevention and prohibition) Act.”
Akingunola further stated that the Minister had serious questions to answer by Instructing payment of public fund into private accounts other than that of a legal entity who ha duly participated in a competitive selection process and or area that direct beneficiaries of a conditional grant scheme (in the case of vulnerable people as captured in the Ministry’s mandate).
“The act depicts pure nepotism, favouritism, undue advantage conferment and criminal diversion, he averred. Hence, the group implored President Bola Tinubu to direct the suspension of the Dr. Beta Edu for thorough investigation by relevant anticorruption agencies with immediate effect failure, which may call for massive advocacy and court action.
Recalling that the public sector financial regulations of 2009 prohibits the payment of public funds to the account of a private individual HURIWA noted that Section 713 of the law states: “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private bank account. An officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention,” HURIWA said it was double standard if the president suspended his appointee heading the social investment coordinating office for exactly the allegations of paying in public funds worth over N34 billion as alleged by EFCC into private accounts but only for the cabinet level minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to be going about the public space seeking justification for also directing that public fund be paid into a private account no matter the status of that account holder.
“HURIWA calls on the President and the EFCC to use a universal yardstick in the enforcement of the anti-graft laws since the law shouldn’t be made to be afraid of certain individuals because they are senior national figures in the ruling All Progressives Congress whereas all others are treated with severely adversarial yardstick just as their investigations suddenly become the main talking points in the public media.
“We are not Accusing the minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation of committing any infractions, but based on the media statements that her office has issued so far, the attempt to convince Nigerians that it is lawful to keep public fund in private account is just like the polemic promoted by one erstwhile civilian governor of Kano State in the second Republic that public fund can be kept in government House since government House is a publicly funded house. It is incongruous and indeed puerile to say that on one hand, the EFCC arrested one official of the same government over allegations of payments of public funds into private accounts but on the same breath, a cabinet level minister is inundating the public space with her submission that keeping public money in private account of someone heading a certain portfolio, is appropriate. This sounds illogical and fallacious and by the way, if as the Minister argued that under a certain civil service rule, public funds can be kept under private accounts, why then does the financial regulations Act governing public service in Nigeria say the exact opposite?”
HURIWA recalled that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, has cried out to Nigerians over what she described as “disgruntled elements” trying to stain her hard earned integrity following the Federal Government ongoing 44.8 Billion Fraud investigation in NSIPA.
The minister said these elements have been trying to link her to a phantom fraud and are behind this latest misadventure by displaying on social media a memo from the ministry to the Accountant-General of the Federation approving for payment, of the sum of N585,189,500.00 Renewed Hope Grant for Vulnerable Groups, (GVGs), for four states, which is currently being circulated in the social media.
Journalist 101 /The Conclave
