From Fred Itua, Abuja
Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, may have been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following her appearance before a panel of interrogators.
Already, a contractor, James Okwete, who executed contracts for the ministry has been in the custody of EFCC for over a week.
The embattled former minister was billed to appear before the panel last Wednesday, but defaulted. She, however, presented herself yesterday, and was questioned for several hours and detained afterwards.
Daily Sun had gathered from a reliable source within the anti-graft agency that the detained contractor, Okwete, was under immense pressure to list names of those who participated in the financial sleaze.
Though the minister had denied any personal knowledge of the contractor, there were fears that he could cave in and list names of his accomplices.
The contractor had been regularly interrogated by EFCC officials since he was detained by the anti-graft agency, and the “engagements are yielding the desired results,” a source told Daily Sun.
It said the former minister may not be the only alleged accomplice in the financial heist, as those who participated would be arrested, prosecuted and their assets confiscated.
“The contractor is under pressure to list those who were part of the whole fraud. He’s responding well to questions and, in no time, the identity of others will be revealed. The EFCC will go after them and recover what was stolen.
“We believe he didn’t work alone with the minister. All those involved in the long chain will be brought in to explain their roles as investigations progress. No stone will be left unturned,” the source said.
Speaking on the invited Umar-Farouq, the source said if she’s unable to respond to questions posed to her during the interrogation, she maybe detained until every secret is unearthed.
The source had said: “The former minister is still pretending not to know anything about the alleged fraud. That, in itself, is a crime.
It means she failed in her duties as supervising minister, to ensure that funds approved are used accordingly.
“She has already been invited and we’re monitoring her movement to avoid her running away. When she comes to our office, on Wednesday, we’ll know if she’ll be detained or released. It depends on what she tells the interrogators.
“If she cooperates and her statements are useful, she will be left off the hook. If not, you know the procedures. There are allegations and she must account for every dime alleged to have been stolen from the ministry under her watch.”
EFCC officials said about N37.1 billion was transferred from the Federal Government’s coffers and sent to 38 different bank accounts domiciled in five commercial banks belonging to or connected with the contractor, Okwete.