The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reports a recovery of N30 billion in the alleged money laundering case involving the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, and her ministry. Additionally, it discloses ongoing investigations into 50 bank accounts.
The EFCC’s bulletin, titled “EFCC Alert,” outlines major arrests, prosecutions, and recoveries made in the past month, signed by EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede. The recovered N30 billion has been returned to the Federal Government’s treasury.
“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, with respect to 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. There are cases that take years to investigate. There are so many angles to it. And we need to follow through 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 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,” the EFCC document reads.
On January 8, President Bola Tinubu suspended Dr. Edu from office and ordered a thorough investigation into the alleged transfer of N585.189m meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states into a private account.
