The media aide to Betta Edu, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Rasheed Zubair has said the N585 million grant for vulnerable groups was approved.
Zubair is saying this over a leaked letter in which Edu requested the accountant-general of the federation, Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein to transfer N585 million to an individual’s bank account.
Edu, in the letter instructed the accountant-general to transfer N585.1 million to the UBA account of one Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.
The minister had said the funds are meant to be grants for vulnerable groups.
Reacting to the criticism that trailed the decision, Zubair, in a statement on Friday, January 5, stated that the transfer of the N585 million followed due process.
According to Zubair, Bridget whose bank account was stated to receive the payment, is the project accountant for the Grants for Vulnerable Groups, GVG, scheme.
The media adviser said it is legal in civil service for a project accountant to receive payments, use funds legally and retire all receipts as evidence of the project.
He added that the circulation of the document on social media was another attempt to blackmail the minister.
“It is glaring that the same sponsored disgruntled elements in the past few days have been trying to smear the Honourable Minister, Dr Betta Edu, and stain her integrity because she alerted the Federal Government attention to the ongoing N44.8 Billion Fraud in NSIPA,” the statement reads.
“These elements have been trying to link her to a phantom fraud and are behind this latest misadventure.
“However, this latest vile effort of theirs is another infantile blackmail doomed for evisceration. For the avoidance, the said N585.1 billion was approved, and it is meant for the implementation of grants to vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states.”
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