N37 billion theft in Humanitarian Affairs Ministry: Alleged rogue contractor, Okwete arrested

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has arrested a contractor, James Okwete in connection with the stolen N37 billion in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

Haji Sadiya Umar Farouk, the erstwhile Minister of the Ministry in the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari was alleged to have connived with the rogue contractor to steal the amount, and subsequently laundered it.

The ongoing investigation of Ministries and Agencies of government in past administration has revealed mind boggling thefts across board, involving former Ministers with the immediate revelation that Sadiya Umar Farouk in cahoots with a contractor to her agency, Mr James Okwete made away with the sum of N47 billion.

Report of the investigation showed that James Okwete allegedly transferred N6,746,034,000.00 to Bureau De Change Operators, withdrew N540,000,000.00 in cash, purchased luxury cars with N288,348,600.00, and bought luxury houses in Abuja and Enugu State with N2,195,115,000.00.

Too, of the fifty-three companies traced to the Humanitarian Affairs Contractor, who was also said to have used 47 companies to lift Federal Government contracts amounting to N27,423,824,339.86, he was a director in 11 of those companies.

The Contractor’s name was linked with 143 bank accounts in 12 commercial banks of which 134 are corporate accounts linked to different companies.

CAPITAL POST gathered on Monday night that, Okwete has made confessional statements indicting the former Humanitarian Minister and other Directors in the saga.

Meanwhile, school feeding programme came to fore in the interrogation of James Okwete, even as Sadiya Farouk claimed to have fed school children sometime in 2020 when schools were shut down due to Covid 19 pandemic. She was being suspected of authority stealing and massive fraud that the anti-graft agency may arrest her any moment.