•••Gbajabiamila Allegedly Approves N3bn for Social Register Verification
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, allegedly quizzed the Accountant General of the Federation.
The Accountant General of the Federation, Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, was quizzed by the EFCC on Monday, over alleged N585 million, scandal and other related frauds.
Recall that the AGF distanced herself from the scandal disowning the Minister during a press statement.
According to her, she didn’t carry out the ‘illegal’ request, despite the position of the EFCC that certain monies were transferred to some private accounts.
But a source in the EFCC revealed that Accountant General of the Federation was quizzed to clear certain loose ends in the transaction.
The source, said the AGF, is corporating with the EFCC with helpful information.
He claimed that the Commission is of conviction that such suspicious transactions may have been going on in the past through some designated banks without public knowledge.
According to the source, the Commission has vowed that it would continue to investigate the issue and would use the platform to clean up the entire Ministry and bring perpetrators involved in the scandal to prosecution.
Meanwhile the Chief of Staff to President Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, was alleged in a leaked memo to have approved N3bn for Social Register Verification.
Gbajabiamila was alleged to have approved the N3billion for the suspended Minister, Betta Edu, authorizing her to remove the sum from the COVID-19 Palliative Fund for the verification of the National Social Register.
In the leaked memo, it was alleged that the Minister had requested approval, which the Chief of Staff granted on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.
The leaked memo, with reference number, SH/COS/145/A/220 dated September 18, 2023, was a reply to the Minister and was titled: “Conveyance of Approval; Re: Appeal to Use 3,000,000,000.00 (Three Billion Naira) from the COVID-19 Palliative Fund for the Verification of the National Social Register.”
According to the memo, Gbajabiamila specifically ordered the Minister to go on with the transaction.
But it wasn’t certain if there was a written approval from the President.
Recall that the EDUGATE has been in the public domain in recent weeks, prompting the suspension of the Minister by President Tinubu.
The minister is battling allegations of alleged money laundering and illicit transfers to the tune of N585 million supposedly meant for distribution to vulnerable Nigerians into a private account.
According to the reports, Edu allegedly raised a memo requesting the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to send the said amount to a private account belonging to one Oniyelu Bridget, for the execution of the Ministry’s mandate in some states.
Edu was thereafter suspended by President Tinubu and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation.