Sadiya Umar Farouq says the ministry of humanitarian
affairs, disaster management and social development has no link to the alleged
N2.67bn school feeding fraud uncovered by the Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The ICPC disclosed on Monday that N2.67 billion paid to some
federal colleges for school feeding during the COVID-19 lockdown ended up in
private bank accounts.
But in a statement issued by Nneka Ikem Anibeze, her special
assistant on media and publicity, Umar Farouq said the school feeding in
question is different from the home grown school feeding programme which is one
of the humanitarian ministry’s social investment programmes (SIP).
The minister said in August that the federal government
spent over N500 million to feed pupils during the lockdown imposed to curb the
spread of COVID-19 in the country.
She said the home grown school feeding programme is for
pupils in primaries 1-3 in select public schools across the country, and not
for college students.
She also said other cases of fraud mentioned by the ICPC
have nothing to do with her ministry.
“The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management
and Social Development hereby informs 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,” the statement read.
“That the School Feeding under scrutiny is feeding of
students in Federal Government Colleges across the country and is not under the
Federal ministry of Humanitarian Affairs which only oversees Home Grown School
Feeding for children in Primaries 1-3 in select public schools across the
country.
“That the over N2.5 billion which was reportedly
misappropriated by a senior civil servant (name withheld) took place in a
different ministry and not the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster
Management and Social Development.”
The minister asked the ICPC to publish the names of persons
complicit in the school feeding fraud and to freeze the accounts where the
missing funds were found.
“The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management
and Social Development calls on The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission, ICPC to publish the names of persons, federal
colleges and school heads whose names have been found to be associated with the
missing funds and also freeze the accounts where the said funds were diverted,”
she said.
“The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs therefore calls on the
general public to disregard the false reports being linked to the ministry as
it is not in anyway involved in the Federal Government Colleges School
Feeding.”
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