The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has on Monday, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to arrest or invite for interrogation, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, over the alleged insertion of N206,242,395,000 into the 2023 budget of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, as disclosed by the Minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, learnt.
HURIWA also cautioned the EFCC to steer off the naming of serving government Officials as Ambassadors of the EFCC, since the anti-corruption body is not a Local Chief or Emir that awards traditional titles, but is a very serious Agency of government set up to wage a real war against the many embedded economic saboteurs working within the government circles who have destroyed Nigeria’s economy.
HURIWA said that the recent announcement purporting to name the Executive Vice Chairman of the National Communications Commission, NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, as an Ambassador of the EFCC, is absolutely irregular and inappropriate, since that would mean that the holder becomes a sacred cow, and therefore, the financial affairs of that Agency under his control may never come under any kind of scrutiny, should any allegations of misconduct arise in the near future.
The Rights body asked the EFCC to allow the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, with its pastime of giving awards to government Officials, including State Governors that owe Teachers backlog of salaries.
HURIWA prayed the EFCC to respect itself, because Nigerians see it as such an Institution that people look up to in terms of waging anti-graft war, come rain or shine; therefore, awarding “Chieftaincy titles of the so-called Ambassadors of EFCC, belittles the essence of the anti-graft Commission”.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, speaking on the controversial N206 billion, in a statement, rejected the explanation of the Finance Ministry that the bogus amount was wrongly captured in the budget estimates submitted to the National Assembly, just as it insisted that those in charge must be arrested to give proper statements under oaths.
The Rights group stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is encouraging corruption, contrary to what is considered ‘weird propaganda’ in some quarters that it is fighting graft.
Recall, that the Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, told the National Assembly that the N206,242,395,000 found its way into her Ministry’s 2023 budget without her knowledge.
However, the Special Adviser to the Finance Minister on Media and Communications, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, in a statement, said that the funds in question were wrongly captured in the 2023 Appropriation Bill for the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry.
The Senate similarly uncovered the forgery of signatures of participants in the payment of over N208 million in the Zonal Skill Acquisition organised by the Ministry of Labour and Employment under the watch of its Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige.
Commenting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said: “Corruption in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet is mind-boggling, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission are overlooking these spectacular crimes.
“This, sadly, is the greatest cause of insecurity, because a corrupt government is even a threat to National Security.
“Budget padding is not alien to Nigerian Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Just in September, the ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, disclosed that the N13.59 trillion 2021 budget was padded by MDAs with duplicated projects worth N300 billion. He also said project duplication worth N100 billion were also inserted into the N17.12 trillion 2022 budget by some MDAs.
“The explanation or defence of the Finance Ministry is lame and unacceptable. Nigerians will not sit down and watch these shenanigans under the APC-controlled government whose Officials have exhibited grand larceny and corruption like the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, in EFCC’s net for usurping hundreds of billions of naira, and who reportedly gave EFCC a refund of 900,000 USD in cash, as part of the alleged siphoned public fund.
“HURIWA demands actions by way of arrests, prosecution of Officials who padded the budget, for they are economic saboteurs. Anything short of this is aiding and abetting corruption. If the EFCC overlooks these crimes, then in the fullness of time, the persons responsible will be apprehended to face justice whenever a God-fearing administration takes Office, since such heinous crimes are not status barred.”