The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has seized the international passports of the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, and that of her predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouq.
The confiscation of their passports followed the ongoing probe into the oozing scandals in the ministry.
The EFCC interrogated the suspended minister over the N44bn fraud uncovered in the ministry which burst opened last week after a leaked memo revealed that Betta Edu had directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer N585m to a private account owned by one Oniyelu Bridget, who the ministry claimed currently serves as the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups.
Edu had claimed that the N585m payment was meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states, saying that the allegations against her were baseless.
The Media Assistant to the minister, Rasheed Olarewaju, in a statement said that it was legal within the civil service for such payments to be made into private accounts of staff members, especially project accountants.
However, in deference to public pressure, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday suspended the minister and directed her to hand over to the Permanent Secretary in the ministry.
The suspended minister and coordinator are believed to have given new revelations during their interrogations with the anti-graft agency.
