Criticisms continue to mount against the alleged activities of former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq in view of the reported misappropriation of sum of N37.1 billion with stern call by many that President Bola Tinubu should engage in a comprehensive probe of the administration of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
The N37.1 billion in question was alleged to have been misappropriated during Umar-Farouq’s tenure as Buhari’s Minister in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC allegedly open up an investigation following the cans of worms being blown open in the course of the checks being carried out on Betta Edu, the current minister in the said Ministry.
In a letter that was leaked to the media, Dr Betta Edu, the current minister in the Ministry, allegedly asked the Accountant General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein, to divert N585 million meant for poverty alleviation in four state to a private account.
However, Madein said she did not honour the request to pay the money into the private account as directed, explaining that she advised her on the appropriate steps to take in line with the established payment procedure.
Findings about chains of alleged sharp practices by the handlers of the Ministry and their co-travellers have generated heated reactions with remarks that how President Tinubu’s administration handles the corruption cases that led the country into hardship would speak volume about his (Tinubu’s) integrity.
Under the watch of successive Minister, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, was said to have been enmeshed in fraud allegations. No fewer than 20 senior directors and officials of the ministry had been summoned for questioning by the anti graft agency.
Apparently, President Tinubu suspended Betta Edu and Halima Shehu to allow for unfettered investigation in light of allegations of massive fraud in which they were allegedly involved. Specifically, Edu is on suspension pending the investigation into her role in the alleged N585 million fraud, while Shehu was suspended over alleged financial misconduct.
President Tinubu also moved ahead to suspend NSIPA – N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfer, Government Enterprise and Empowerment and Home Grown School Feeding for an initial period of six weeks for same reason.
Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation announced the tentative suspension of the programmes in a statement, hinting also at plans to reform the agency. It also noted that Tinubu “raised significant concerns regarding operational lapses and improprieties surrounding payments to the Programmes’ beneficiaries.”
In her own case, Umar-Farouq, who alleged that she had the assent of former President Buhari before executing financial activities under her Ministry while in office, was quoted as saying that “I remain proud to have served my country as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with every sense of responsibility and will defend my actions, stewardship and programmes during my tenure whenever I am called upon to do so.”
However staggering evidences, found to be questioning her integrity, are being unearthed by the EFCC.
Buhari set up National Social Investments Programmes Agency in 2016, a year after he assumed office as Nigeria’s President, with the intent to drive NSIP. The Social Investment Programmes were aimed at tackling poverty and hunger in the land but NSIPA, currently under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, is enmeshed in huge financial misappropriation allegations that made many Nigerians to call for immediate scrapping of the Ministry as well as the agency.
Critics, including civil society organizations and political activists, argued that neither did the programmes under NSIPA such as N-power, Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), Government Enterprise and Empowerment (GEEP), and Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF), and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, help to alleviate poverty in the country as envisaged nor did it provide succour to distressed Nigerians.
They described the Ministry and their agencies as conduit pipes for syphoning funds at the expense of the country.
Since Umar-Farouq was detained by the EFCC, and the NSIPA National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer, Halima Shehu, was suspended over allegations of misappropriation of N37.1 billion social intervention funds, as Edu Gate surfaced, tongues have continued to wag in condemnation of activities of the Ministry, its agencies and handlers.
Reacting to the logjam meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Willy Ezugwu, has said, “Tinubu should probe Buhari’s government. Under that (Buhari) administration, corruption became an epidemic in Nigeria. If Tinubu is serious about fighting corruption, there is no way some officials under Buhari’s government will not be prosecuted.
“If Buhari’s government is not probed, Tinubu should forget about fighting corruption.”
In the same vein, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, Executive Director of the Resource Center for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), stated that “From all indications and from all that had happened in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, it is clear that it was set up just to fleece the country.
“What has been uncovered so far is just a scratch. If a detailed investigation is to be conducted, more will be uncovered. Now, can we say that what the Ministry has done so far is equivalent to the mass stealing that has been perpetrated? No.
“There was not even any need for the creation of that Ministry. If you have a Ministry of Women Affairs, you can domicile whatever department you want to create under it, not creating a full-fledged Ministry.
“I would have expected Tinubu to hold on and conduct an investigation before even appointing a minister into that Ministry.
“He should have done a thorough check to know if we even need that Ministry. What is their work? What exactly are they doing? It is NEMA that Buhari elevated to that Ministry. And what have they done so far to alleviate poverty? Even Betta Edu, between the time she was appointed and the time she was suspended, what practical things has she done to alleviate poverty?”
He stressed, “They talk about palliatives here and there, conditional cash transfer to the poorest of the poor. My organisation monitored the disbursement of the conditional cash transfer of the Abacha loot in the North-West, and we saw the shady deals that were going on.
“Where they are supposed to pay N10,000 to a household, they will just give them an envelope and say ‘sign, sign, sign’, and the person will sign and be smiling but when they count the money they find N4,000 in the envelope. This was what was going on.
“In some cases, when they want to disburse, they will fail to notify us or they will give us a different date. We travelled far and wide, only to find out that it had been postponed, or it was conducted yesterday. We saw all that and we did a report and submitted it. Nothing happened.”
The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, lamented, “The truth is that there are so many wrongdoings that happened under Muhammadu Buhari. You can take some well established cases where breaches happened. I think they have already invited Sadiya Abba-Farouq.
“There are others like the former Minister of Justice (Abubakar Malami) and the former Minister of Aviation (Hadi Sirika). Once there is evidence of their wrongdoing, I think the Tinubu government should go ahead and do that (probe them).”
Rafsanjani, who doubles as President of the Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, further stated, “The Tinubu administration itself is not very strong in morality because many of the people Tinubu appointed were also part and parcel of the Buhari administration. They were also having a lot of corruption allegations against them.”
However, in spite of the growing calls, some are sceptical that Tinubu lacks the political will to probe Buhari administration in view of the perceived pact between them.
The Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice, CSJ, Eze Onyekpere, queried, “Have you ever heard of a Nigerian sitting president calling the former one to account? It appears to be an unwritten rule in Nigeria.
“Buhari handed over to Tinubu so if you are expecting him to probe his predecessor, that is going to be very difficult. It is the right thing to do but I don’t see it happening. They (sitting Presidents) don’t want to set that precedent because they wouldn’t want their successor to call them back. They know if that precedent is set, it may get to their turn.”
Those following the unfolding events are unanimous in their opinions that there are more revelations to unearth on graft issues in the country in relation to officials of government – both present and past. The critics averred that what would determine the future of the country is how President Tinubu’s government handles the unfolding events.
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