N17b cash: EFCC detains Halima Shehu
A few hours after her suspension, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arrested the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu.
She was still being detained as of press time last night.
Halima Shehu was picked up in connection with the movement of N17 billion from the NSIPA account to some suspicious accounts within one week.
The interception and recovery of the cash followed some alleged payments of billions of naira by the agency without presidential approval.
It was learnt that the EFCC might have recommended Halima Shehu’s suspension to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Her suspension, based on preliminary investigation, was to pave the way for an unfettered probe of the infraction.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that following intelligence, the EFCC uncovered “unusual movement of billions of naira” from NSIPA’s account.
A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The EFCC raised a red flag on the suspicious payments of billions of Naira into some individual and corporate accounts. Preliminary investigation showed that there was no presidential approval for the payment of such humongous funds.
Pre-emptive steps were immediately put in place to track the suspicious funds. So far, about N17 billion has been intercepted and recovered from some accounts by this commission.
“Our team is working round the clock to trace the remaining billions of Naira suspected to have been laundered from the Social Investment cash.
