By Ayo Kehinde
Two of Nigeria’s ministries allegedly involved in the diversion of N2.6 billion meant for the feeding of schoolchildren of Unity Schools during the COVID-19 lockdown, have washed their hands of the fraud.
On Monday, Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, disclosed at a public event in Abuja that N2.67 billion meant for school feeding during the COVID-19 lockdowns was diverted to personal accounts.
According to him, the anti-graft agency also found out that a deceased senior civil servant in the Ministry of Agriculture also embezzled N2.5 billion to himself and cronies as well as 18 buildings, 12 business premises, and 25 plots of land.
In their separate reactions, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, and her counterpart in the Ministry of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, have denied the involvement of their ministries, passing the buck to one and the other.
In a statement by Nneka Anibeze of the Ministry of Disaster Management, “The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development hereby inform the public that the Federal Government colleges school feeding in question is different from the Home Grown School Feeding which is one of its Social Investment Programmes.
“It is not under the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs which only oversees Home Grown School Feeding for children in Primaries one to three in select public schools across the country.”
“The ministry or the minister does not even handle or disburse funds for Home Grown School Feeding. The money for funding the programme neither passes through the minister nor the ministry.
“The School Feeding under scrutiny is feeding of students in Federal Government Colleges across the country and is not under the ministry which only oversees Home Grown School Feeding for children in Primaries 1-3 in select public schools across the country.
“That money for funding the Programme neither passes through the Minister nor the ministry.”
In his reaction, Adamu Adamu said the ministry was not involved in the N2.67 billion fraud alleged by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
He directed attention to the office of Vice=President Yemi Osinbajo, the first handler of the programme and the Disaster Ministry;
“I think you should try to verify this by asking ICPC to give you the evidence, or by asking the Office of the Vice President that was handling school feeding before, or by asking the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development,” Adamu told TheCable.
“The Federal Ministry of Education doesn’t handle the issue.”
In August, Sadiya Farouq made many Nigerian’s hackles rise when she said the Federal Government had only spent about N523.3 million on the school feeding programme during the lockdown.
