In a startling turn of events, Oluwatoyin Madein, the Accountant General of the Federation, has openly challenged the assertions made by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, concerning the controversial transfer of a hefty sum of N585.2 million of government funds into a private bank account of an official.
The crux of this financial imbroglio came to light through a leaked memo, which disclosed that in December, Mrs. Edu had specifically requested Mrs. Madein to reroute the funds from the National Social Investment office account to the UBA account of Bridget Oniyelu, who handles the accounts for a federal government initiative aimed at aiding vulnerable groups.
This initiative falls under the jurisdiction of Mrs. Edu’s ministry.
An investigative report by PREMIUM TIMES had earlier illuminated this transaction as a potential breach of several clauses in Nigeria’s Financial Regulations of 2009, designed to serve as a bulwark against fraud and corruption in governmental dealings.
Notably, Chapter Seven, Section 713 of these regulations explicitly prohibits the mixing of public and personal funds in government transactions. It states that under no circumstance should personal money be deposited into a government account, nor should public funds find their way into a private account – a regulation that Minister Edu seems to have flouted.
Furthermore, the regulation stipulates that any officer who deposits public money into a private account is presumably acting with fraudulent intentions, underscoring the law’s objective to thwart fraud in government operations.
However, in a striking counter-statement released on Friday by her media aide, Rasheed Zubair, Mrs. Edu defended the transaction as a lawful practice within the civil service framework. She insisted that it's permissible for a staff member, in this case, the project accountant, to receive and manage these funds for the duration of a project or program, provided all receipts and evidence of expenditure are duly submitted upon completion.
Additionally, the minister alleged that the leakage of the memo was part of a smear campaign against her.
Responding to these developments, Mrs. Madein, in a statement issued on Saturday, emphatically distanced her office from this contentious transaction and denounced the minister’s actions as illegal.
Admitting her office had received Mrs. Edu’s request for the fund transfer to Ms. Oniyelu’s private account, Mrs. Madein clarified that she declined the request, advising the ministry on the proper procedures for such payments, which are in line with established payment protocols. She emphasized that bulk payments, especially of the magnitude of N585.2 million, should not be made to an individual’s account but rather processed by the respective ministries as self-accounting entities.
The accountant general added that such payments should ideally be disbursed directly to the beneficiaries through their verified bank accounts.
This revelation suggests that despite Mrs. Madein’s counsel, Mrs. Edu’s ministry proceeded with the transfer into Ms. Oniyelu’s private account, a move that seemingly contravenes Nigerian law.
Adding to the complexity of this case, Mrs. Edu’s memo has introduced another dimension to the already ongoing EFCC investigation into the suspended National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, who is embroiled in allegations of a N37.1 billion fraud within the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
Mrs. Shehu had previously claimed in December that over 1.5 million households in the country benefited from the Conditional Cash Transfer programme of the federal government, a statement now overshadowed by these fraud allegations.
The government’s intervention program is currently marred by these accusations of financial impropriety.
Complicating matters further, Mrs. Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, is also under EFCC scrutiny for alleged fraudulent activities.
In the wake of these revelations, a wave of public indignation has swept across Nigeria, with many calling for Mrs. Edu’s immediate suspension from her ministerial position.
