The National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, has been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission hours after she was suspended.
Shehu is being detained in connection with the movement of N17 billion from NSIPA account to some suspicious accounts within one week.
The Nation reported that the interception and recovery of the cash followed some alleged payments of billions of naira by the agency without presidential approval.
Her suspension, based on preliminary investigation, was to pave the way for an unfettered probe of the infraction and it is speculated it was recommended to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the EFCC.
Shehu was arrested at about 8pm yesterday, January 2. After searching her home and office, she was taken into custody at about 9pm for interrogation.
It was also learnt that the EFCC was closing in on a director of the agency, who was allegedly complicit in the huge payments into the suspicious accounts.
Some crack operatives of the EFCC will today interrogate a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, for allegedly laundering N37, 170,855,753.44 during her tenure through a contractor, James Okwete.
Investigation confirmed that the President wielded the big stick yesterday because Halima Shehu had earlier defied a presidential directive to work with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, to pay the outstanding and statutory stipends to beneficiaries of the N-Power programme before Christmas.
The N-Power programme was created by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari to address youth unemployment with the beneficiaries earning N30,000 monthly. About 400,000 beneficiaries have not received monthly stipends in the past few months.
A source told the publication;
“The EFCC raised a red flag on the suspicious payments of billions of Naira into some individual and corporate accounts. Preliminary investigation showed that there was no presidential approval for the payment of such humongous funds.
“Pre-emptive steps were immediately put in place to track the suspicious funds. So far, about N17 billion has been intercepted and recovered from some accounts by this commission.
“Our team is working round the clock to trace the remaining billions of Naira suspected to have been laundered from the Social Investment cash.
“Shortly after her suspension, EFCC operatives laid siege to her office in Maitama District but it took almost two hours to arrest her. While the siege lasted, the EFCC chairman directed that the operatives should not break into her office or her residence.
“Eventually, she was arrested and detained by our team. Her grilling immediately started based on preliminary findings.
“The suspended National Coordinator did not work with the minister as expected on N-Power. Following the defiance of the presidential directive, the presidency asked the minister to liaise with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay the N-Power beneficiaries.
“In the midst of this challenge, the EFCC intercepted suspicious payments by NSIPA. The president had no choice than to approve her suspension as requested by the EFCC.”
