The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) claims that it has retrieved N30 billion from Betta Edu, the minister of humanitarian affairs who is under suspension.
On January 8, President Bola Tinubu suspended Edu and directed the EFCC “to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transaction” involving her ministry.
Following the minister’s suspension, the government’s enterprise and empowerment programme, N-Power programme, conditional cash transfer programme, homegrown school feeding programme, and social investment programme were placed on hold.
The ministry and the suspended minister have since been the subject of an investigation by the EFCC.
The commission said in an update included in a bulletin titled “EFCC Alert” that it is also looking into 50 bank accounts and that the N30 billion that was found is in the federal government’s coffers.
“We have laws and regulations guiding our investigations. Nigerians will also know that they are already on suspension and this is based on the investigations we have done, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has proved to Nigerians that he is ready to fight corruption,” Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, was quoted as saying in the bulletin.
“Moreover, with respect to this particular case, we have recovered over N30 billion, which is already in the coffers of the Federal Government.
“It takes time to conclude investigations; we started this matter less than six weeks ago. There are cases that take years to investigate.
“There are so many angles to it. And we need to follow through some of the discoveries that we have seen.
“Nigerians should give us time on this matter; we have professionals on this case and they need to do things right. There are so many leads here and there.
“As it is now, we are investigating over 50 bank accounts we have traced money into. That is no child’s play. That’s a big deal.
“Then you ask about my staff strength. And again, we have thousands of other cases that we are working on. Nigerians have seen the impact of what we have done so far, by way of some people being placed on suspension and by way of the recoveries that we have made.
“You have seen that the programme itself has been suspended. We are exploring so many discoveries that we have stumbled upon in our investigation.
“If it is about seeing people in jail, well let them wait, everything has a process to follow. So Nigerians should wait and give us the benefit of the doubt.”
