Alleged Over N37bn Frauds, EFCC To Question Ex Minister, Faruk Sadiya

Ex Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Umar-Faruk Sadiya

The former Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Minister under President Muhammadu Buhari, Sadiya Umar-Faruk to be questioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N37.1 billion frauds.

This was disclosed by a top officer of the Commission on Wednesday.

The source said that the former minister was invited by the anti-graft agency last week following a probe that was launched into her activities in the Ministry when she held sway.

She was being investigated over the sum of N37.1 billion that was allegedly laundered under her watch through a contractor, James Okwete.

The source further disclosed that Sadiya Umar-Faruk was asked to appear before interrogators at the EFCC headquarters located at Jabi, Abuja, by 10:00 am. However, she has yet to appear at the EFCC headquarters.

According to the source, some other officials who worked with her had also been invited to provide an insight into how the affairs of the ministry were run in the last four years.

The planned interrogation of the former Minister followed the suspension of Halima Shehu as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (N-SIPA) by President Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu replaced Halima with the National N-Power programme Manager, Akindele Egbuwalo, in acting capacity pending an investigation initiated into the activities of the embattled former head of the agency.

N-SIPA, which is responsible for managing critical programmes like N-Power and Conditional Cash Transfer, has been under scrutiny in recent times, with concerns raised about efficiency and effectiveness.

N-SIPA is an agency under the Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Ministry.

It is however, unclear why Shehu was suspended, it was gathered that the embattled N-SIPA boss also has questions to answer.

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