Outrage as Betta Edu asks accountant-general to transfer N585m to private account

There has been outrage over an instruction by Betta Edu, minister of humanitarian affairs, to Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein, the accountant-general of the federation, to transfer N585 million to the bank account of an individual.

The instruction for the payment is contained in a leaked letter dated December 20, 2023, seen by TheCable.

The letter, signed by the minister, was titled: “Mandate for Payment of Grant for Vulnerable Groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Lagos and Ogun States Respectively”.

In the letter, Edu instructed the accountant-general to transfer N585,189,500 to the UBA account of one Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.

According to the document, N219,429,750 was earmarked as “2023 Grant for Vulnerable Groups in Akwa Ibom state”, N73,828,750 was budgeted for Cross River state, N219,462,250 for Lagos state, and N72,468,750 for Ogun state.

The minister said the payment should be deducted from the account of the national investment office.

“I hereby approve the payment of the cumulative sum of N585,189,500. These are payments for programmes and activities of the Renewed Hope grant for Vulnerable Groups,” the letter reads.

This payment should be made from the National Social Investment Office account with account number: 0020208461037 to the project accountant’s details listed above.”

The letter has elicited varied reactions on social media as many Nigerians questioned the rationale behind the minister’s instruction of transferring the funds to a private bank account.