“The real cost of corruption in government, whether it is local, state, or federal, is a loss of the public trust.”
—Mike Quigley
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
Nigeria’s anti-graft war presents a paradox. The more you look, the less you see. The more advances the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) makes in its aggressive fight against corruption, the craftier those in the custody of public money are in their urge to steal.
It speaks to Obafemi Awolowo’s time-tested prediction when he said: “It will, I believe, be generally agreed that eradication of corruption in any society is not just a difficult task; it is without dispute, an impossible task.” At the time of his prognosis, there was still some modicum of decency and restraint in the way of handling people’s collective patrimony. Things have since gone awry. As far as the current effort to end graft-related matters is concerned, Nigeria is a study in progress.
Generally, men intrinsically have a greater tendency for corruption than women. But the recent happenings have shown that the women folks too are not as innocent as people perceive them to be. In just one week, two women of substance have been de-robed of their toga of piety for fiddling with a staggering sum of money belonging to the public. One is the immediate past Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, who has been accused of complicity in the diversion of N37 billion under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The other is the suspended NSIPA boss, Ms Halima Shehu, now being investigated by the EFCC over the allegation of surreptitious movement of N30 billion from the coffers of the agency to some private accounts.
According to the report, about N44 billion was suspiciously transferred from NSIPA’s accounts into private and corporate accounts linked to those serving as fronts, leading to the suspension of its National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the agency.
For that reason, she was questioned by the EFCC interrogators during the week along with the immediate past Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA), Mr Bwai Adamu Hamza who retired from the agency in December.
This followed an earlier invitation of Sadiya Umar-Farouq by the anti-graft agency for interrogation over the alleged laundering of N37, 170,855,753.44 during her tenure through a contractor, James Okwete. Though the former minister denied the allegations, she could not honour the invitation for an opportunity to clear her name of any wrongdoing on health grounds.
Part of the reason for impunity of office is the lack of significant consequences for corruption in Nigeria. Before she retreated to her protective shield, while still in charge of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, questions had been raised over the propriety and otherwise of the claim she made about the colossal sum of money she claimed had been spent on the Federal Government’s school feeding programme at a time when the country was in a lockdown to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 diseases.
The authorities turned deaf ears to the matter and subsequently swept it under the carpet. This will be unraveled as the EFCC continues its investigation into the alleged missing funds.
As for the suspended Coordinator of NSIPA, the scenario presented promises to be an interesting drama to watch. From the confessional statements she has made so far, it appears she is prepared to spill the beans, while also desperately in search of a straw to hold on to. As a drowning person, she doesn’t want to go down alone.
In her moment of self-exoneration, she claimed that she decided to move the N30 billion to prevent the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, from embezzling the money. In another instance, she accused the Minister of misappropriating N3 billion in a month. There has also been a social media outburst about the insinuation alleging that Edu directed over N585 million of public funds into a private account belonging to Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.
It’s been an interesting season of confession, accusations, and counter-accusations. However, Edu has denied involvement in the alleged N3 billion National Social Investment Programme Agency’s (NSIPA) fraud.
In a statement signed by her Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, the minister described the allegation as a “tissue of lies, spurious allegation to divert anti-graft agency’s attention.”
According to her minister, the allegation is the handiwork of fifth columnists aimed at dragging her into the ongoing investigations of the NSIPA scandal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The statement reads in part: “Ordinarily, there is no substance in the said publication currently in some online media and does not deserve a response, but there is a need to set the record straight for Nigerians and followers of the current development in NSIPA under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to be properly informed.
“This is necessary because social media, in recent times, has been riddled with lots of fake and unsubstantiated news. The desire to drag traffic and also make a desperate living by many bloggers has spurred several online content makers to throw caution into the wind, and rev in propaganda aimed at attacking government appointees.
“For the records, all the programmes embarked by the Ministry under the current Minister, Dr Betta Edu, thus far, including Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Grants for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) and others, secured the approval of Mr. President.
“Again, let it be known that there was no time, the ministry not (Dr Betta) withdrew any fund from the NSIPA account, let alone N3 billion without due diligence and painstaking approval from the appropriate authorities.”
Edu faces scrutiny amid irregularities in the conditional cash transfer programme, prompting the House to summon her for transparency details.
All of this smacks off impunity of office and misuse of public funds. For the revelations that have been made so far, it is abundantly clear that something fundamental is amiss with the process of disbursement of the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer to the vulnerable. And it goes beyond what Shehu has done and what she has not done. It is an institutional matter that the anti-graft agency needs to dig deep into to unveil the faces of the mindless people who are feeding fat on the money meant to provide succour for the underprivileged.
Among them are Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of banks who are aiding and abetting corruption by offering to be a willing tool in the hands of government functionaries for unauthorized transfer of money. Many of them are complicit because no such transaction can take place without the active connivance of one financial institution or the other.
As far as this matter is concerned, there are more questions than answers. All eyes are now on the EFCC to conduct a thorough investigation into the activities of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to boost public confidence in the programme that has received more complaints than commendations.
Shehu joined politics in 2010 following 10 years of experience in financial transactions as the head of several banking units, including the cash, funds transfer, clearing, reconciliation, operations, and coordination units across three banks.
She was confirmed as the new National Coordinator of National Social Investment Programme Agency by the Senate in October 2023. She needs to divorce herself from public mistrust.