The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has taken possession of the passports of two former ministers of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu and Sadiya Umar-Farouq, in the course of its ongoing investigations into the ministry’s corruption scandals.
Edu was suspended following the discovery of an alleged scam where she directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer an undisclosed amount of money to a private account belonging to Oniyelu Bridget, who was said to be the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups. Edu claimed that the funds were meant to assist vulnerable groups in four different states and that the accusations against her were unfounded.
President Bola Tinubu suspended Edu and instructed her to hand over to the permanent secretary in the ministry. Edu, subsequently, honored the invitation from the EFCC on Tuesday and was interrogated by investigators. During the interrogation, the investigators took possession of her personal and official passports and prohibited her from leaving the country.
Umar-Farouq, Edu’s predecessor, was also questioned by investigators for 12 hours on Monday regarding the N37.1 billion allegedly laundered during her tenure in office through a contractor, James Okwete. Umar-Farouq was also required to surrender her passport as part of her bail conditions before she was eventually released.
According to a Punch source, the EFCC seized the passports of the two ministers, as well as that of Mrs Halima Shehu, to prevent them from leaving the country while investigations are still ongoing.