Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has, so far, recovered N30 billion for the Federal Government, while it has also placed 50 bank accounts under investigation in the ongoing probe of the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, the Executive Chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has said.
According to him, the bank accounts include those of the erstwhile Chief Executive Officer of the now suspended National Social Investment Programme Authority (NSIPA), Halima Shehu.
Both Edu and Shehu were suspended about three months ago by President Bola Tinubu over alleged financial malfeasance.
The President also suspended Social Investment Programme and, thereafter, asked the EFCC to take over the case and probe both embattled officials, and any other person involved.
Olukoyede spoke in the March edition of the commission’s monthly e-magazine, EFCCAlert, released yesterday.
The magazine quoted the EFCC boss as saying: “We have laws and regulations guiding our investigations. Nigerians will also know that they are already on suspension and this is based on the investigations we have done, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has proved to Nigerians that he is ready to fight corruption.
“Moreover, with respect to this particular case, we have recovered over N30 billion, which is already in the coffers of the Federal Government. It takes time to conclude investigations; we started this matter less than six weeks ago. There are cases that take years to investigate. There are so many angles to it. And we need to follow through with some of the discoveries that we have seen. Nigerians should give us time on this matter; we have professionals on this case and they need to do things right. There are so many leads here and there.
“As it is now, we are investigating over 50 bank accounts that we have traced money into. That is no child’s play. That’s a big deal. Then you ask about my staff strength. And again, we have thousands of other cases that we are working on.”
