President Muhammadu Buhari has moved to suspend from office, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Igbere TV reports.
This comes barely 24 hours after the President suspended Barr Okoi Obono-Obla, Chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property, over alleged corrupt practices and falsification of certificates.
Already, the Civil Service Boss had been interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over alleged N3 billion contract scam.
Igbere TV gathered that Mrs Oyo-Ita was grilled for straight four days by the anti-graft agency, beginning from Thursday, August 8, 2019.
About N600 million is said to have been traced to the account of one of her aides, who has been unable to give any justifiable explanation for it.
After a four-day non-stop grilling during which she was in the Abuja custody of the EFCC, Mrs Oyo-Ita landed in a private hospital in Jabi area of Abuja, due to ‘shocks’.
But an official of the EFCC said she was only granted administrative bail for urgent medical attention, adding that she is expected back for further interrogation.
According to the official, the anti-graft agency uncovered funds linked to the Civil Service Boss while probing the activities of a former Minister under who she served as Permanent Secretary.
He said the EFCC had already blocked the indicted account and has begun the process of obtaining an interim forfeiture order from the court, to seize the cash.
He added that detectives from the EFCC, Abuja office, were able to establish that the N3 billion was illegally obtained through falsification of Duty Tour Allowances and estacodes.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that she (Oyo-Ita) used different proxies and non-existent companies to obtain contracts from Ministries, Departments and Agencies from 2015 till date”, he said.
“While tracing embezzlement by the ex-Minister, detectives stumbled on diversion of funds into these proxy companies which the Head of Service has relationship with.
“The startling revelations made detectives to dig further into her activities as a Permanent Secretary (to the ex-Minister) and Head of Service”, the EFCC official added.
Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita is a former key official of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, where she worked under President Muhammadu Buhari, the then Head of the agency.
She was appointed as the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in acting capacity in October 2015 and confirmed in January 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
