Data made available shows that the corruption-riddled ministry transferred over N1.4 billion into the private bank accounts of eight officials within four years.
Between 2019 and 2023, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development illegally transferred over N1.4 billion into the private bank accounts of eight members of its staff.
Data obtained from Govspend exposed the transfers, which were made in contravention of the various financial regulations of the country on public finance. The data shows that this illegality occurred under the suspended minister, Betta Edu, as well as under her predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, both of whom are being investigated by the EFCC for corruption.
Ms Edu was suspended by President Bola Tinubu folowing a public outcry over a disclosure that she approved the transfer of N583 million into a private account. However, the illegality has been practised in the ministry from the time of Mrs Farouq, who was the pioneer minister.
Similar allegations of corruption in the ministry also led to the suspension of the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu.
Aside from these officials, the president also suspended all four programmes administered by NSIPA – N-Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, and Home Grown School Feeding Programme – and ordered a holistic review of the operations of the programmes.
Within four years, the ministry transferred public funds into the accounts of eight officials. The recipients are Balogun Ibrahim, Ahmed Bomai, Oni Samuel O, Adelana Kazeem, Oyegbile Adeniran, Attahiru Zagga, Umar Idris and Ezenekwe Chibuzor.The funds were transferred in tranches in a total of 118 transactions made between 2019 and December 2023.[/b]
According to the document, Balogun Taiwo Ibrahim received N557.8 million in 43 tranches between 2020 and 2023. In 2020, N18.4 million was transferred to his account, and N9.8 million in 2021. In 2022, he got N137.2 million in 15 transactions and in 2023, N392 million in 25 transactions.
In a single day on 30 December 2023, Mr Ibrahim received five transfers totaling N59.7 million. Some of the titles for the payments raise significant suspicion. For instance, N14.2 million and N10 million were transferred on the same day for “Being payment ‘iro’ correspondence with the national council on climate change” (“iro” in civil service-speak stands for “in respect of”).
In another instance, the ministry paid N17.3 million into the account of this individual for “Being payment “iro” scaling up of the unified social register.”
