We disregarded minister’s request to pay N585m into private account – AGF
According to a report, Dr. Betta Edu, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, instructed the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) to transfer N585 million to a private account owned by Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.
Dr. Edu signed the letter herself and sent it to the OAGF, stating that the money was for helping vulnerable people in four states: Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos.
Rasheed Zubair, the minister’s media assistant, defended the move, saying that it was a normal practice in the civil service to pay project accountants through their personal accounts.
He said that Oniyelu Bridget was the Project Accountant for GVG from the Department of Finance, and that she would use the money legally and return the balance with all the proofs after the project or programme was over.
However, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, denied that her office complied with the minister’s request.
She said that her office got the letter with the reference FMHAPA/HQ/S.208, dated December 20, 2023, but did not make the payment. She also advised the ministry to follow the proper payment procedure.
The AGF said that such payments should be handled by the ministries themselves as self-accounting entities, and that no large sum of money should be paid to a single person’s account in the name of the Project Accountant.
She said that the payment should go directly to the beneficiaries through their verified bank accounts.
Dr. Madein reaffirmed her commitment to the values of accountability and transparency in managing public funds. She urged MDAs to always take the necessary steps in conducting financial transactions.