John Nwokocha
The widespread public outcry that greeted the unmasking of a humongous corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and Poverty Alleviation may have cooled, but the pertinent questions are still being asked by concerned Nigerians, as the dust raised in the wake has yet to settle.
Prominent among the questions are: What is delaying the appointment of a new minister to oversee the ministry? When will the suspended minister, Dr. Betta Edu be prosecuted?
But the Presidency has been mum on the matter, months after firing Edu
It was gathered that some concerned Nigerians and CSOs have threatened to sue the federal government over the delays in appointing a substantive minister to oversee the ministry.
Sources in the ministry said leaving a ministry to run without a minister as political head was deliberately creating room for massive fraud, when Africa Health Report sought to find out who is running the ministry.
Africa Health Report authoritatively learnt that activities at the ministry are currently being watched by anti-corruption agencies following the massive alleged looting of public funds by senior officials of the ministry and its agencies.
Following the reports of monumental corruption at the ministry involving top officials, President Bola Tinubu on January 8, 2024, suspended Edu over an alleged N585m scandal in her ministry.
Africa Health Report recalls that prior to the minister’s suspension, on January 2, 2024, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer, National Social Investment Programme Agency, NSIPA, Halima Shehu was fired by Tinubu over an ongoing investigation into the N37,170,855,753.44 allegedly laundered in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, under former Minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouk.
Recall that Umar-Farouk, Edu’s predecessor was reportedly undergoing interrogations by the EFCC over allegation of fraud in the ministry.
On January 10, 2024, the EFCC reportedly seized the passports of Edu and Umar-Farouq over the lingering investigation into scandals in the ministry.
The President suspended all administered social investment programmes by NSIPA on January 12, 2024.
The report stated that as the EFCC interrogated the suspended minister over the N44bn fraud uncovered in the ministry, managing directors of three commercial banks were also invited for questioning.
Halima Shehu, it was gathered is currently in (EFCC) custody in connection with the alleged N37.1bn fraud that took place under the former humanitarian minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouk.
The all-important NSIPA is a key agency under the Humanitarian Ministry, and receives about 80 per cent of the allocation that goes to the ministry due to the tasks assigned to it.
NSIPA manages the N-Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, and Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
Hundreds of billions of naira are allocated annually to NSIPA for the smooth running of these programmes which are meant to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
The scandal involving Edu burst open after a leaked memo revealed that the suspended minister directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein to transfer N585m to a private account owned by one Oniyelu Bridget, who the ministry claimed currently serves as the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups.
The minister had claimed that the N585m payment was meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states, describing the allegations against her as baseless.
Although social investment schemes of the federal government were conceived to assist the poor, a programme that was designed to lift over 100 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty had allegedly become a cash cow for successive governments following the alleged scandals involving top officials of the ministry.
Speaking, an Abuja-based businessman noted that with the current hardship confronting the Nigerian masses, the programme could have been relevant.
He called for scrapping of the ministry if the administration can operate without it as it clearly looks.
“It is of no purpose having a ministry without a minister”, he sounded. He said a ministry that cannot impact the citizens serves little purpose and does not deserved to be called a ministry. He also raised the alarm that it is left to be imagined the level of corruption that might be perpetrated unchecked within the ministry.
He said the purpose of having a minister and other layers of administrative personnel was to ensure accountability and transparency. He questions the integrity of the administration in regard to transparency.
According to checks by Africa Health Report, recent revelations showed that the two ministers, who had managed the ministry, as well as the head of NSIPA, might have looted a lot of the funds meant for the Nigerian masses
President Muhammadu Buhari created the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development on August 21, 2019. After Tinubu took over in May 2023, the name was changed to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
Figures from the budget office showed that in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, the total allocations to the ministry and agencies under it were N453.3bn, N456.1bn, N507.9bn, N426bn and N532.5bn respectively.
However, our checks showed that such funds did not get to the targeted beneficiaries.
In December 2023, the World Bank stated that the number of poor Nigerians increased by 24 million between 2018 and 2023.
It said Nigeria’s poverty rate rose from 40 per cent in 2018 to 46 per cent in 2023, as the number of poor people increased from 79 million to 104 million.
The bank also pointed out that more people had fallen below the poverty line due to sluggish growth and rising inflation.
The cycle of graft and embezzling of public funds by officials of the ministry continues to rubbish the Financial Act 2009.
Some concerned Nigerians who spoke, expressing displeasure over the current hardship said the violation of the Act by any public official was deemed to be in connivance with senior officials across ministries with the intention to embezzle more money, in the absence of a chief accounting officer.
