N585M FRAUD: CISLAC CALLS FOR ARREST OF ACCOMPLICES 09-01-24
By Sadiq Aminu The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre CISLAC has called on the federal Government and anti-graft agencies to fish out the alleged accomplices of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, and her predecessor, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq.
Executive Director of the Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, made this call in an interview with Journalists in Abuja.
Mr. Rafsanjani said, The fraud allegedly perpetrated by both the previous minister, Sadiya, and the current one definitely worked with some people;, hence the need to investigate those behind. He said it was pathetic that a ministry that should be sympathetic to the citizens was caught in the web of alleged fund diversions.
Mr Rafsanjani called on President Bola Tinubu to carry out sweeping reforms within ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), stressing that alleged diversions of funds weren’t restricted to the humanitarian ministry.
The rights activist lauded the Federal Government for probing the minister and her predecessor, saying the new administration must take the probes seriously because the country was broke and needed money.
“We will not let this matter die; this is one of the many of it,” Rafsanjani said.
He called on the government to have the political will to pursue both probes till the end and extend such investigations to other MDAs.
Mrs Betta Edu was acussed of involvement in the approval of N585,198,500.00 to be disbursed into a personal account has been met with controversy.
Although the minister said some people planned to tarnish her image, the president subsequently ordered the probe into Edu’s ministry.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is presently probing Edu’s predecessor, Farouq, over the alleged laundering of N37.1 billion during her tenure as a minister under the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
Early January, 2024..