Former National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, has denied allegations that she transferred ₦44 billion to private accounts, insisting that she was removed from office after exposing alleged financial irregularities within the agency.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News monitored by The News Chronicle (TNC), Shehu said she assumed office on October 18, 2023, following her appointment by President Bola Tinubu, with extensive knowledge of the agency’s operations, having participated in the development of the National Social Investment Programmes from their inception.
She said she also spearheaded efforts to digitise the agency’s operations to improve financial transparency and accountability in collaboration with the World Bank.
According to Shehu, she discovered serious weaknesses in NSIPA’s financial management shortly after taking office, including what she described as unexplained movement of public funds.
“I found weak links in the system where money was being transferred without accountability,” she said.
Shehu said she immediately raised the concerns with the then Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, as well as the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, but claimed she received no response.
She alleged that the minister exercised significant influence over the agency by appointing officials who reported directly to her, thereby preventing the NSIPA leadership from selecting personnel needed to effectively carry out its mandate.
“The transactions came from Betta Edu down to the operations,” Shehu alleged.
While acknowledging that no public institution is perfect, the former NSIPA boss claimed the minister prioritised control of the agency over compliance with established financial procedures.
“She was not willing to learn what was required but only wanted to be in control, violating the laid-down structures for financial accountability,” Shehu said.
She further alleged that despite writing several letters to the minister seeking clarification on financial transactions, none received a response.
Shehu claimed that about 300 million dollars from World Bank-supported funds was moved without adequate explanation, adding that repeated efforts to obtain details from the programme manager were unsuccessful.
According to her, she eventually contacted officials of the World Bank to clarify that operational oversight of the programme rested with her office rather than the supervising minister.
When her internal efforts failed, Shehu said she formally reported the alleged financial irregularities to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 21, 2023.
She also said she notified the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), raising concerns over alleged unauthorised signatories added to the agency’s accounts without her approval.
“I believed the matter would be escalated, but about 10 weeks later, I was dismissed from office without any warning, invitation or investigation,” she said.
Shehu maintained that rather than being protected as a whistleblower, she became the subject of corruption allegations.
“These are false allegations against Halima Shehu. I have never transferred ₦44 billion to any private account, and the EFCC never recovered a single kobo from me, my family or my friends’ accounts,” she stated.
The former NSIPA chief explained that the social investment programmes predated her appointment and that beneficiary payments were made through commercial banks engaged by the government.
“The programmes were inherited. Funds were transferred to commercial banks that served as payment partners, and they disbursed the money directly to beneficiaries,” she said.
When asked about reports that cash payments were allegedly delivered by hand on the instructions of the former minister, Shehu declined to comment directly.
“The minister should answer that question,” she said.
Responding to another question on whether she had provided evidence to assist the EFCC’s investigation, Shehu said she fully cooperated with the anti-graft agency.
“The EFCC investigated me. I helped them to do their work,” she said.
According to her, she submitted documents detailing the alleged financial irregularities, including records she said would exonerate her and demonstrate violations of established financial procedures.
“I was in office and I did a whistleblowing. I gave them documents and facts—everything to exonerate me from the false allegations, including documents showing violations of laid-down financial procedures, transfers and payments involving the ₦3 billion balance of COVID-19 intervention funds paid into 11 accounts,” she said.
Shehu, however, alleged that the EFCC failed to act on the documents she submitted.
She further disclosed that before making her concerns public through an open letter, she had written directly to President Tinubu, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the EFCC and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, but claimed she received no response.
Appealing to the Presidency to clear her name, Shehu insisted that her reputation had been unfairly damaged.
“My integrity is my greatest asset. I may have made administrative mistakes because no one is perfect, but I am not corrupt,” she said.
The allegations and claims made by Shehu have not been independently verified, and those she mentioned had not publicly responded to the specific allegations at the time of filing this report.
