Humanitarian Ministry Fraud Case Beyond Betta Edu, Halima – EFCC

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, on Tuesday, revealed that the level of corruption in Humanitarian Affairs Ministry is beyond, suspended minister, Betta Edu.

Naija News recalls that President Bola Tinubu-led government suspended Edu over alleged fraudlent activities in the ministry.

The EFCC chairman disclosed how trillions of government funds were moved out of the ministry’s accounts.

He said, “N14 billion, under one hour, was moved. You call that a system? I told people, ‘look, the people that have been suspended, if we had replaced them by now, even if you had brought saints into that ministry, in 24 hours, that saint would be contaminated.

“So, it’s not about Betta Edu neither is it about Halima. Let’s not personalise the matter; let’s not single out an individual. It’s about the system. It’s the system we are investigating. So, whosoever is found culpable, along the line, are the people that would be held.

“If I’m running after Betta Edu or Halima, and hundreds of other people are stealing money… Do you think this investigation started during Betta Edu’s time? Do you think it started during Halima? Do you even think it started during Sadiyya’s time as minister?

“Before that ministry was established, every single kobo that was allocated to that ministry was under investigation.

“So, we are talking of trillions (of naira). If we keep talking about Betta Edu, we won’t get anywhere. We would go back to where we are coming from. So, let us take our time and, in any case, when did we even start this investigation?

“I’ve said it before, we are investigating over 50 accounts. You must understand some of these processes. For each account, we write letters to banks and the banks reply. From there, we get other leads. From there, we follow those leads again and we start writing letters. Sometimes, it takes two, three weeks for them to reply. We bring people, we interview them. We run after those ones. Investigation takes time. I’ve not come out to say I’ve indicted so and so person. What I said was that we have recovered so, so amount.”