COVER
Three Women Linked to N84.1bn Fraud in Barely Five-Year-old Humanitarian Ministry
By David Torough, Abuja
Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation may be described as a cesspool of corruption if allegations of corrupt practices leveled against three women who superintended affairs in the beleaguered ministry can be proved.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have to investigate diversion of about N84.
1 billion from the ministry designed to give succour to suffering Nigerians.The ministry founded in August 2019 by former President Muhammadu Buhari was headed by Sadiya Umar-Farouq until the end of the Buhari-led administration in May 2023.
The second minister appointed by President Bola Tinubu is equally a woman, Betta Edu.
The ministry has been in the news following allegations of huge financial impropriety leveled against the former and the sitting ministers.
Umar-Farouq is linked to the diversion of N37.1bn while Edu is linked to a fresh N3 billion.
Also, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, was picked up this week in connection with the movement of N44 billion from NSIPA account to some suspicious accounts within the last four days in Dec. 2023.
The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Edu has denied the alleged diversion of N3 billion from the account of NSIPA, describing it as spurious.
Daily Asset recalls that NSIPA was created in 2016 under the administration of former President Muhammadu to address socio-economic inequalities and alleviate poverty among Nigerians.
The programme was founded on four pillars namely the N-POWER Programme, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme and the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.
Each of the pillars was designed to empower the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians to attain an acceptable standard of living irrespective of their locations nationwide.
However, the essence of the programme seems to be defeated as corruption allegations have continued to rock the ministry incharge of the programme.
Edu in a statement entitled, Re-Betta Edu Fingered In N3bn NSIPA Fraud Scandal; A Tissue of Lies, Spurious Allegation to Divert Anti-Graft Agency’s Attention, signed by Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the minister, stated that the allegation is false.
“The attention of the Honourable Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu has been drawn to spurious allegations suspected to have been sponsored by some fifth columnists aimed at dragging the hard-earned reputation and integrity of the Honourable Minister into the ongoing investigations of NSIPA scandal by the anti- graft agency.
“Ordinarily, there is no substance in the said publication currently in some online media and does not deserve a response, but there is need to set the record straight for Nigerians and followers of the current development in NSIPA under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to be properly informed.
“This is necessary because social media, in recent times, has been riddled with lots of fake and unsubstantiated news.
“There was no time the minister, Dr. Betta Edu requested for any fund, needless to mention withdrawal of such amount of money to the tune of N3 billion since her assumption of office…in the last four months, albeit one month was quoted in the sponsored Fake News.
“The Verification of the National Social Register (NSR) as quoted in the said publication online, was approved not only by Mr. President but also by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in line with the Renewed Hope Mandate to expand the NSR as well as imbue it with integrity.
“The conclusion of the well publicised Verification Exercise led to the expansion of the National Social Register and commencement of payment sequentially and directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to various beneficiaries.
“For the records, all the Programmes embarked by the ministry under the current Minister, Dr. Betta Edu, thus far, including Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Grants for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) and others secured the approval of Mr President.
“The Honourable Minister wishes to inform the general public that she has no hand in the current travails of the leadership of the NSIPA, therefore her good name should not be dragged into the ongoing suspension and investigations as approved by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the statement read.
Similarly, the former minister Umar-Farouq is undergoing investigation following an a probe into the N37,170,855,753.44 allegedly laundered during her tenure in office, through a contractor, James Okwete.
The former minister who was invited by EFCC interrogators failed to show up on Wednesday.
She sought an extension of time to appear before EFCC saying she was indisposed.
EFCC Head of Public Relations, Dele Oyewale confirmed that Umar had sent a legal representative to the commission asking it to give her more time to honour the invitation.
He said the commission had mandated her to submit herself without further delay.
At the moment, the suspended National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NSIPA, Halima Shehu is under EFCC investigation.
Shehu, who initially resisted arrest on Tuesday was finally picked up by EFCC.
She was linked to the diversion of N44 billion from NSIPA account to some suspicious accounts within four days in Dec. 2023.
The interception and recovery of the cash followed some alleged payments of billions of naira by the agency without presidential approval.
EFCC operatives who were drafted to the National Coordinator’s private office and home arrested her at about 8:00pm on Tuesday.
By David Torough, Abuja
Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has declared 281 inmates missing from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Maiduguri, Borno State.
NCoS said this followed an evacuation after the flood that engulfed the state capital.
A statement onby the Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Mr Abubakar Umar yesterday in Abuja said seven other inmates had been recaptured.
Umar said that the service was in custody of the details of the missing inmates, including their biometrics.
“The flood brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the medium security custodial centre Maiduguri (MSCC) as well as the staff quarters in the city.
“Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.
“However, it is important to note that the service is in custody of their details, including their biometrics, which is being made available to the public.
“The service is working in synergy with other security agencies as both covert and overt deployments have been activated to look out for them.
“Presently, a total of seven (7) inmates have been recaptured and returned to custody, while efforts are on ground to track down the rest and bring them back to safe custody.“While this effort is on, the public is assured that the incident does not impede or affect public safety,” he said.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
After controversies, trucks from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) yesterday lifted petrol from the Dangote Refinery.
NNPCL revealed that Dangote Refinery sold the fuel at N898 per litre.
The national oil company began loading yesterday after moving about 300 trucks to the 650,000 capacity refinery Dangote Refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.
Its spokesman, Olufemi Soneye was quoted as saying, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today [Sunday].
”“The claim that we purchased it at N760 per liter is incorrect.
“For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per liter.
”At least, over 70 trucks had loaded at the time of this report.
This marks an end to the month-long debate over the quality and sale of the Dangote petrol.
Speaking to newsmen at the refinery, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin described the commencement of the petrol lifting moment of pride to every Nigerian.
He said, “My President has been showing presentations that 52 years ago, we were trying to see how to solve the problem of PMS supply and the queues. Now, after 52 years, we have a solution.
“And the solution is local production of PMS and it is from a Nigerian oil company. And as EPC contractor, it was constructed by a Nigerian company.
“So, it’s a matter of pride that a Nigerian oil company, constructed by a Nigerian-owned company, is able to generate PMS from the local crude and daily will not only to meet the entire requirement of Nigeria, but can also have surplus to export. So, it is a time and moment of great pride to every Nigerian.”
Edwin said 44 percent of the PMS production from the Dangote refinery can meet the requirement of the entire country.
“If you look at the refinery as a whole, PMS alone, every day, 650,000 barrels of crude if we’re processing, we can generate more than 54 million litres of PMS.
“And, of course, the refinery has the capacity to produce various other products too. 44% of the production can meet the entire requirement of the country, 56% of the production has to be exported. “So, it is a huge refinery. So, it is not only going to be doing import substitution, but it is also going to make Forex generation through export revenue.
“The gantries are actually 86 and they can load 86 trucks at a go,” he said.
Last Friday, in Abuja, a member of the Presidential Committee on the Sale of Crude Oil and Refined Product and Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji confirmed that the NNPCL remains the sole buyer of petrol from the Dangote refinery while willing off-takers are free to lift diesel and other products from the refinery.
According to Adedeji, the NNPCL would further distribute to other independent marketers after lifting from the refinery.
He said the nation’s oil company will commence the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira from October 1.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new directive to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), requiring them to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale (PoS) transactions.This move is aimed at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria.
The directive issued on Wednesday aims at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria following CBN’s initiative to diversify the Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) structure, which previously operated through a single aggregator. In a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the CBN Payments System Management Department, the apex bank mandates that all PoS transactions from merchant and agent locations—whether physical or electronic—must now be routed through any CBN-licensed PTSA.The directive is part of efforts to decentralize PoS transaction routing and address concerns over the centralization of such transactions under a single entity.In Aug. 2011, the CBN initially granted a PTSA license to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc to serve as the sole aggregator of PoS transactions.However, to promote competition and enhance service delivery, the CBN awarded a second PTSA license to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL) on April 19.This development aims to reduce the dependence on a single aggregator for the management of PoS transactions, promoting transparency and operational efficiency in Nigeria’s growing electronic payments landscape.
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