Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday quizzed a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq.
Umar-Farouq was earlier scheduled to face the crack detectives of the EFCC around 10:00am last Wednesday over alleged fraud but was absent, citing health challenges.
The former minister, who submitted herself for investigation at the headquarters of the EFCC in Abuja at about 10:00am, was grilled by the crack detectives for about 6 hours.
Daily Trust reports that the former minister was being quizzed over the sum of N37,170,855,753.44 that was allegedly laundered under her watch through a contractor, James Okwete.
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Giving an update last night, an official of the anti-graft agency, who spoke to Daily Trust said Umar-Farouq would spend the night with the anti-graft agency so as to enable them to obtain detailed and necessary information.
The official told our correspondent that Umar-Farouq was shedding more information on some documents already in possession of the anti-graft agency including the ones she came along with as directed.
“She’s cooperating with the commission on the ongoing investigation. She’s providing us necessary information. What I can tell you is that we are obtaining relevant information about the ministry,” the official, who spoke anonymously because he wasn’t authorised to speak, explained.
Efforts to speak with the spokesman for the commission, Dele Oyewale officially did not yield results as calls to his mobile phone weren’t connected. A text message sent to him was yet to be replied.
The former minister, who served under the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, was invited last week by the anti-graft agency following a probe that was launched into her activities in the ministry.
Sources had told Daily Trust that some other officials who worked with her had equally been invited for different days in order to provide an insight into how the affairs of the ministry were run in the last six years.
However, in a post via X on Monday morning, the embattled former minister said she had just arrived at the commission’s headquarters to offer clarifications.
“I have, at my behest, arrived at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to honour the invitation by the anti-graft agency to offer clarifications in respect of some issues that the commission is investigating,” she wrote.
In her previous post on X, she had denied any complicity in the alleged crime.
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