The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Edu Betta, has reportedly authorized the transfer of public funds amounting to N585.198 million to a private account belonging to a project manager named Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola. According to sources, the minister asked the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein, to move the funds to the private account.
The minister’s letter to the AGF, dated December 20, 2023, with reference number FMHAPA/HQ/OHM/S.208 approved the payment of N585,189,500.00 for programs and activities of the Renewed Hope Grant for Vulnerable Groups. The detailed breakdown shows that NN219,429,750.00 was for 2023 Grant for Vulnerable Groups in Akwa Ibom State; N73,828,750.00 was for 2023 Grant for Vulnerable Groups in Cross River State; NN219,462,250.00 was for 2023 Grant for Vulnerable Groups in Lagos State while N72,468,750.00 was for 2023 Grant for Vulnerable Groups in Ogun State.
The letter directed that the payment of NN585,189,500.00 should be made to a UBA account: 2003682151 belonging to Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola. It also stated that the payment should be made from the National Social Investment Officer account with account number 0020208461037 to the Project Accountant’s details listed above.
Sources say that the system that allows the Accountant General of the Federation to transfer public funds into private accounts based on requests by ministers encourages corruption. They also believe that this practice was what led the previous AGF to steal a large sum of money.
It was also learned that the ministry approved and moved N72,423,250 million to Bayelsa State on November 6, 2023, under the ministry’s 2023 grant for vulnerable groups programs. Similarly, N72,374,500 was moved to Kogi State on November 6 through the Director of Finance Account, National Social Investment Agency, just five days before the governorship election. On November 3, 2023, N81,390,750 million was moved to Imo State under the same guise of providing grants to vulnerable groups, just seven days before the governorship election. The minister personally approved the transfer of funds to the three states.
The Nigerian House of Representatives summoned Edu on October 31, 2023, to brief the chamber on the status of the federal government’s conditional cash transfer program to 15 million households. The lawmakers expressed concern over the handling of the program, citing a lack of transparency and alleged fraudulent practices. They asked the minister to provide details on the collation of data and the distribution of funds. The invitation of the minister by the House comes amid reports of irregularities in the program’s implementation, including allegations that some beneficiaries have been excluded while others have been paid multiple times.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu launched the conditional cash transfer program in October as part of his efforts to address poverty and vulnerability in the country. The program aims to provide monthly cash transfers of N25,000 to each of the 15 million beneficiary households for three months.