The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confiscated the travel documents of suspended minister Betta Edu and her predecessor Sadiya Umar-Farouq as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged financial malfeasance during their separate tenures at the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry.
Betta Edu underwent over 10 hours of questioning by anti-graft investigators at the EFCC headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, focusing on allegations of a N585 million disbursement fraud. Following the extensive interrogation, the minister was released on bail late Tuesday, with a condition to report daily to the EFCC office.
Both Edu and her predecessor are slated for further questioning at the Commission’s office on Wednesday from 11 am onwards.
Edu’s appearance at the EFCC office occurred a day after her suspension by President Bola Tinubu. The suspension was linked to her involvement in a N585 million disbursement scandal within the humanitarian affairs ministry, leading to widespread criticism.
President Tinubu ordered the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all financial transactions related to the ministry and “one or more agencies thereunder.”
Despite Edu’s relatively short-lived tenure as the youngest member of the President’s cabinet, her political prominence was noteworthy, having served as Cross River State Commissioner for Health and the National Women Leader of the APC before her ministerial appointment.
In a parallel development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, Edu’s predecessor, faced a second consecutive day of questioning by the EFCC. The former minister is under investigation for an alleged laundering of N37.1 billion during her term. After a lengthy interrogation on Tuesday, she was released and is expected to return for further clarifications on Wednesday.
