Alleged fraud: EFCC releases Betta Edu on bail

Betta Edu, the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has been released from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

On Wednesday morning, a reliable source informed our correspondent that Edu had been released on bail but had to report to the EFCC daily.

The EFCC has also seized Edu’s passports and her predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, over the ongoing investigations into scandals in the ministry.

Edu, who arrived at the EFCC headquarters, in Abuja at 10 am on Tuesday, was still being quizzed by the commission’s investigators as of the time of filing this report at 7 pm.

As the EFCC interrogated the suspended minister over the N44bn fraud uncovered in the ministry, it was gathered that managing directors of three commercial banks were also quizzed on Tuesday over the fraud.

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.

Edu 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.

The Media Assistant to the minister, Rasheed Olarewaju, in a statement said that it was legal within the civil service for such payments to be made into private accounts of staff members, especially project accountants.

In deference to public pressure, the President on Monday suspended Edu and directed her to hand over to the permanent secretary in the ministry.

On Tuesday, Edu honoured the EFCC invitation and was subjected to marathon interrogation by investigators.

It was learnt that her personal and official passports were taken away by detectives, and she was barred from travelling out of the country.

Edu’s predecessor, Umar-Farouq, had been quizzed by investigators for 12 hours on Monday in connection with the probe into the N37.1bn allegedly laundered during her tenure in office, through a contractor, James Okwete.

The ex-minister’s passport was also seized as part of her bail conditions before she was subsequently released late Monday night.

An impeccable EFCC source said the passports of Edu and the former minister were seized to deter them from fleeing the country while the investigation subsists.

“The commission has seized the passports of the two ministers, Sadiya Shehu and Betta Edu.

“We have also seized Mrs Halima Shehu’s passport pending the conclusion of investigations. The commission does not want to risk having any of them leave the country while they still have questions to answer,” the source said.