Just In : EFCC gives Account Of Stewardship, As Details Of Recovered Humanitarian Affairs N37 Billion Emerge
Details of the N37 billion so far recovered from the controversial Humanitarian Affairs Ministry have begun to emerge as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission gives account of its operations under a new leadership.
The anti-graft agency has recovered at least N37 billion from yet to be determined huge cash diverted from the till of the government agency into private coffers.
A top operative of the agency, who is familiar with the recoveries so far made, told one of our correspondents that the amount traced to top officials of the ministry was more than what is known
The competent source said that the agency had so far recovered at least N30 billion out of the N37 billion said to have been diverted under the immediate past minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouq.
Similarly, more than N17 billion is reportedly traced to the suspended minister, Betta Edu.
The top source explained that the agency was able to recover the cash from accounts traced to the former minister by placing a lien on the identified accounts.
The source explained that contrary to the notion that Betta Edu was suspended for diverting N585 million into a private account, the sum of N17 billion has been recovered from her.
The source did not however give the details of the cash recovered from her since she is still being probed by operatives.
However a source close to Betta Edu told Vanguard on Sunday that it was not true that N17 billion had been traced to the suspended minister.
The source said that no such amount had neither been traced nor recovered from Edu.
“It is a lie to say that N17 billion has been trace to and recovered from Betta Edu. EFCC will refute that by itself,” the source said last night.
A top official said: “What we have done so far in respect of the money traced to senior elements in the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry shows that our investigation is going right.
“This is a further proof that whoever steals public funds will not go scot-free no matter how influential they may be.
The recovery comes in the wake of the success recorded by the EFCC under the new leadership of Ola Olukoyede.
The agency in a document made available to journalists said it recovered a total of N70.5 billion between October 2023 and January 19, 2024.
The details are contained in a document entitled ‘Operations and Recoveries’, which the agency released to journalists in Abuja.
The document revealed that in the period under review, the EFCC recovered N60,969,047,634.25, $10,522,778.57, £150,002.10 and €4,119.90, making a total of N70,556,658,370.5.
The document shows that the agency received a total of 3,325 petitions, accepted 2,657 of the petitions, and secured the conviction of 747 persons for financial crimes relating to money laundering and Internet fraud.
The EFCC headquarters recovered N49,607,391,330.44, $3,900,200.75, £2,000, and £110.
However, the Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, at a dialogue in Abuja, revealed that most of the 747 convictions involved persons who were prosecuted for cybercrime offences.
