Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is probing 50 bank accounts, as it recovered N30 billion in the case of the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, and the ongoing probe of the ministry over alleged money laundering.
This latest development was revealed in a bulletin titled, “EFCC Alert,” detailing some major arrests, prosecutions, and recoveries made by the commission within the last month.
The document authorised by the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, which was obtained by Punch on Monday, revealed that the recovered N30bn is now in the Federal Government’s coffers.
It reads: “Update on Betta Edu investigation. We have laws and regulations guiding our investigations. Nigerians will also know that they are already on suspension, and this is based on the investigations we have done, and President Bola Tinubu has proved to Nigerians that he is ready to fight corruption.
“Moreover, concerning this particular case, we have recovered over N30 billion, which is already in the coffers of the Federal Government.
“It takes time to conclude investigations; we started this matter less than six weeks ago. Some cases take years to investigate. There are so many angles to it, and we need to follow through with some of the discoveries that we have seen. Nigerians should give us time on this matter; we have professionals on this case, and they need to do things right. There are so many leads here and there.
“As it is now, we are investigating over 50 bank accounts that we have traced money into. That is no child’s play. That’s a big deal. Then you ask about my staff strength.
“And again, we have thousands of other cases that we are working on. Nigerians have seen the impact of what we have done so far, by way of some people being placed on suspension and by way of the recoveries that we have made. You have seen that the programme itself has been suspended. We are exploring so many discoveries that we have stumbled upon in our investigation.
“If it is about seeing people in jail, well let them wait. Everything has a process to follow. So Nigerians should wait and give us the benefit of the doubt.”
“Nobody can fight the corruption war alone. So, we want Nigerians to believe in our capacity to fight this battle. We must also come together and agree that corruption is bad, and so when we are prosecuting corrupt persons, Nigerians should believe in it.
“We expect Nigerians to also appeal to their conscience because the negative impact of corruption is all over for all to see. So we must agree that what is wrong is wrong.
“I also appeal to other stakeholders – the National Assembly and the judiciary to support us in this mission. Every Nigerian must be a corruption fighter. When you see something wrong, say something. Challenge corrupt politicians in your locality. Take them up. Take your governors up on the allocations they receive and make them accountable. By so doing, you will be supporting the fight against corruption.”