A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday ordered the arrest of former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, over alleged fraud linked to her tenure.
Also named in the arrest warrant are the Ministry’s former Permanent Secretary, Bashir Nura Alkali, and one Sani Nafiu Mohammed. The court directed that the trio be produced for arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
According to the court order, the defendants are to face a 21-count charge bordering on breach of trust, abuse of office, fraudulent award of contracts, and conversion of public funds. The charges stem from EFCC investigations into alleged financial irregularities in social investment programmes.
The EFCC had earlier invited the former minister for questioning over transactions under the National Social Investment Programme Agency, N-SIPA, but she failed to appear on several occasions. The commission subsequently approached the court for a bench warrant to compel her attendance.
Presiding judge, in granting the application, ruled that the allegations were weighty and required the physical presence of the accused persons to take their plea. The court fixed a new date for arraignment once the defendants are produced.
The development marks a significant step in the probe of humanitarian ministry spending between 2019 and 2023, with the EFCC vowing to pursue all persons implicated in the alleged diversion of funds meant for vulnerable Nigerians.
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