₦37.1bn Fraud: Buhari’s Minister Arrives EFCC Headquarters
Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, has arrived at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to meet with interrogators over an ongoing probe into the N37,170,855,753.44 allegedly laundered during her tenure in office, through a contractor, James Okwete.
The ex-minister arrived at the head office of the anti-graft agency at about 10 am on Monday.
At about 10:20 am, the former minister tweeted about her presence at the EFCC headquarters.
“I have, at my behest, arrived at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to honour the invitation by the anti-graft agency to offer clarifications in respect of some issues that the commission is investigating,” Umar-Farouq tweeted on Monday morning.0:00 / 0:00
Citing health challenges, the former Minister had earlier officially written to the EFCC, seeking an extension of the deadline to meet with EFCC interrogators over an ongoing probe into the N37,170,855,753.44 allegedly laundered during her tenure in office through a contractor, Okwete.
Umar-Farouq faced arrest by operatives of the EFCC after failing to appear before interrogators at the EFCC Headquarters on Wednesday.
The former minister was asked to appear before investigators at the EFCC Headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, at about 10:00 a.m. to give an account of the alleged monumental fraud that took place under her watch, a document exclusively seen by our correspondent on Saturday revealed.
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said Umar had sent a legal representative to the commission and had written to the commission seeking to be given more time to honour the invitation while citing health challenges.
Oyewale said, “The former Humanitarian Minister didn’t appear before the commission yesterday, but she sent in a letter pleading for more time and also explaining that she has some health challenges and that was why she couldn’t honour the invitation. She also sent in her lawyer to meet with interrogators.
“However, the commission has mandated her to submit herself to the commission without further delay. We are still tracing all the transactions, hence we cannot put a figure to everything now as investigation is still ongoing.”
Umar-Farouq kept interrogators waiting for over eight hours on Wednesday without an official communication to the commission as to why she didn’t honour the invitation.
The EFCC invited the former minister to come to answer questions concerning an ongoing investigation into an alleged ₦37.1bn fraud uncovered in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.