The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has successfully traced and frozen N30 billion out of the N44 billion transferred from the accounts of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
This significant development occurred shortly after Halima Shehu, the troubled National Coordinator of NSIPA, was apprehended and detained by the EFCC following her suspension by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, barely 24 hours prior.
An anonymous source speaking to The Nation disclosed on Wednesday that the EFCC has frozen multiple accounts involved in the movement of funds by certain NSIPA officials as part of an ongoing investigation.
“After hours of interrogation and profiling of many accounts, the EFCC confirmed that unauthorized N44 billion was suspiciously moved out of NSIPA’s account to some private and corporate accounts”.
On Wednesday, the EFCC interrogated Shehu regarding the alleged fraud linked to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA). Alongside this, the anti-graft commission arrested Bwai Adamu Hamza, the immediate past Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA) at NSIPA, who retired from the agency in December. Both Shehu and Hamza faced questioning from a specialized team.
Following meticulous tracking of cash movements, the EFCC managed to recover and freeze N30 billion found in multiple accounts. Initially, the agency had seized N17 billion by Tuesday. Within a day, an additional N13 billion was traced and frozen across several accounts, bringing the total seized amount to N30 billion.
The N44 billion in question had been suspiciously transferred from NSIPA’s accounts into private and corporate accounts connected to individuals serving as proxies.
Simultaneously, there’s been news that the former Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouq—under whom Halima Shehu served—declined an EFCC invitation for interrogation regarding alleged money laundering amounting to N37,170,855,753.44 during her tenure. Allegations pointed to a contractor named James Okwete, which Umar-Farouq firmly denied.