The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has dared the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to name the culprits involved in the school feeding programme fraud.
Farouq, in a statement issued on Monday by her Special Adviser on media to the Minister, Nneka Anibeze, dissociated herself and her office from any ‘Federal Government Colleges School Feeding’ program or any fraud associated with any programme.
The ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, had on Monday during the 2nd National Summit on Diminishing Corruption held in the State House, said the Commission traced part of N2.67 billion school feeding funds meant for Federal Government Colleges to some personal accounts.
Owasanoye said the payment was made to the Federal Colleges for school feeding during the lockdown “when the students were not in school.”
In a swift reaction, the minister said the statement made by the ICPC chairman was twisted and misinterpreted by mischief makers and directed at the Ministry
She said, “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.
“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.”
Farouq further noted that the ministry or the minister does not handle or disburse funds for Home Grown School Feeding HGSF.
She added, “That money for funding the Programme neither passes through the Minister nor the ministry.
“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.”
To prove her innocence, the minister challenged the ICPC boss to mention the names of the culprits and freeze the accounts where such funds are deposited just as she calls those casting aspersion on the ministry as unfair and malicious.
“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 any way involved in the Federal Government Colleges School Feeding,” the statement said.
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