Poverty fight coordinator Shehu arrested after suspension
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Halima Shehu, National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), who was suspended on Tuesday by President Bola Tinubu has been detained by the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegation of fraud worth N17 billion.
Tinubu appointed her on 12 October 2023 and she assumed office on 7 November 2023.
Shehu was arrested by the graft buster over the movement of N17 billion from NSIPA account to suspicious accounts within one week without presidential approval.
It was learnt the EFCC might have recommended Shehu’s suspension to Tinubu based on preliminary investigation, to allow for an unfettered probe.
EFCC personnel deployed to her private office and home effected her arrest at about 8pm on Tuesday and, after searching her home and office, she was taken into custody at about 9pm for interrogation.
It was also learnt the EFCC is closing in on a Director of NSIPA, who was allegedly complicit in the payments into the suspicious accounts.
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EFCC expected to interrogate ex-Minister Umar-Farouq
The EFCC is equally expected to interrogate today, former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, for allegedly laundering N37,170,855,753.44 during her tenure through a contractor, James Okwete, per The Nation.
Umar-Farouq has denied having any official dealings with Okwete, but the EFCC is said to have uncovered “unusual movement of billions of naira” from NSIPA’s account.
A reliable source disclosed how “The EFCC raised a red flag on the suspicious payments of billions of naira into some individual and corporate accounts. Preliminary investigation showed that there was no presidential approval for the payment of such humongous funds
“Pre-emptive steps were immediately put in place to track the suspicious funds. So far, about N17 billion has been intercepted and recovered from some accounts by this commission.
“Our team is working round the clock to trace the remaining billions of Naira suspected to have been laundered from the Social Investment cash.”
