Babatunji Wusu –
The EFCC has initiated an investigation into Oluwatoyin Madein, the Accountant General of the Federation, regarding her purported involvement in the N585.2 million scam involving Betta Edu, the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.
According to information gleaned from Punch Newspaper, the AGF was questioned by EFCC interrogators on Monday at the anti-graft agency’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.
Madein was interrogated for about six hours before being released that evening with no conditions.
An authoritative anti-graft source verified that she was questioned regarding the transfer of N585.2 million in public funds from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs into the personal bank account of a government official.
The source said, “The Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, has been invited and interrogated by the commission. She was grilled for over six hours on Monday over the payment of N585.2m from the National Social Investment office account to the UBA account of Bridget Oniyelu, the accountant of the Grants for Vulnerable Groups under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
“The AGF was not detained, and she was released with no condition after she made her explanation in writing to the investigators during interrogation. However, she told interrogators that she didn’t approve the memo from Minister Edu for the payment into a private account.”
In December 2023, Edu requested the Accountant General, who serves as the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs’ accountant for grants to disadvantaged groups, to transfer money from the National Social Investment office account to Oniyelu’s UBA account, according to a leaked memo.
But in a statement, the AGF disputed the suspended minister’s claim, stating that money was disbursed to self-accounting MDAs in accordance with the budget and that these MDAs were in charge of completing their projects and paying the required payments.
Agents from the EFCC questioned Edu for over ten hours last week on a purported N585 million scam in her ministry. On Monday, January 8, President Bola Tinubu suspended her.
It is alleged that the minister transferred the humanitarian monies into his own bank account.
The embattled coordinator and chief executive officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, which is headquartered in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Halima Shehu, is the subject of an alleged N44 billion cash scam that the EFCC is investigating.
