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By Uche Usim
As the corruption allegation against the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Minister, Dr Betta Edu rages on, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Dr Oluwatoyin Madein, has denied honouring the N585.198 million payment request by the minister, saying that her office does not make payments on behalf of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for their projects and programmes.
Madein’s rebuttal was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Press, Mr Bawa Mokwa, of the OAGF.
According to her, allocations are released to self-accounting MDAs in line with the budget and such MDAs are responsible for the implementation of their projects and payments for such projects.
“The Ministry was, however, advised on the appropriate steps to take in making such payments in line with the established payment procedure”, the AGF said.
The AGF added that in such situations, payments are usually processed by the affected ministries as self-accounting entities and no bulk payment is supposed to be made to an individual’s account in the name of Project Accountant.
She added that such payment should be sent to the beneficiaries through their verified bank accounts.
However, the whole brouhaha started with Dr Edu’s request which was contained in a letter referenced: FMHAPA/HQ/S.208 and dated December 20, 2023.
She explained that the payment was meant for grants to vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos states.
The minister was reportedly said to have asked the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay the said amount to the personal account of a certain Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.
