Ex-Minister of Niger Delta in Trouble over Missing N1.5bn Cash

The withdrawal of of N1.5billion from the account of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs with the CBN and what the money was used for are some of the questions the Office of the Head of Service of and security agencies are trying to unravel with a view to bringing those who stole the cash to book.

In connection with the said money, two senior accountants in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs have already been queried and suspended from office pending the conclusion of investigation into their roles in the alleged theft of the money.

Although the two officers responded to the query by pleading that they were simply carrying out their duties as civil servants, the ministry immediately suspended them, rejecting their excuse.

They had argued that they withdrew the money based on the instruction of superior authorities and that as civil servants they could not have disobeyed their ‘superiors’ who asked them to make the said amount available...

The amount in question was reportedly taken in two withdrawals on the instructions of senior political aide, claiming to be working on the directives of a top presidency bigwig.

The first sum of N605 million withdrawn by a minister from the account of the ministry went missing after being withdrawn from the CBN and is the subject of investigation by the ICPC, while another withdrawal of over N800 million attracted the attention of the HoS which queried the two accountants and finally suspended them.

According to Vanguard, there were indications that the suspended accountants had named those who were behind the cash withdrawals and had tried to exonerate themselves from the deal.

It was learned that the Federal Government is bent on inviting a former minister in the ministry to appear before its anti-corruption bodies to explain his role in the missing cash.

Already, one of the former ministers and close confidant of Goodluck Jonathan, Elder Godsday Orubebe, has been questioned by the ICPC over the money.

The former minister claimed that he had already resigned before the cash went missing and that he never asked anyone to withdraw such amount for him, knowing that it was against service regulations.

Now the Presidency has been given a brief on the finances of the ministry and the roles played by some very senior political actors in the dying days of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.