N44bn Fraud: Suspended NSIPA Coordinator Granted Bail, To Meet EFCC interrogators Daily

The embattled suspended National Co-ordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, Halima Shehu, who was arrested in connection with an alleged ₦44billion money laundering, has been released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on bail.

It was learnt that Shehu was released on Wednesday night and had been mandated to report at the EFCC Headquarters every day while the investigation continued.

Recall that the NSIPA Coordinator was arrested and taken into EFCC custody on Tuesday night following her suspension by President Bola Tinubu.

It was learnt that the ₦44bn was allegedly suspiciously moved from NSIPA’s accounts into private and corporate accounts linked to persons serving as fronts.

Confirming her release from EFCC custody in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said Shehu has been mandated to meet with EFCC interrogators every day as the investigation continues.

Oyewale said, “Halima Shehu has been released, but she is still answering our interrogators, and she has been mandated to meet with investigators every day as the investigation is ongoing.

“Concerning reports on the ₦44bn and ₦30bn making the rounds, the commission is still tracing all the suspicious transactions, her agency was under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs too.

“There’s a lot of money involved because the Ministry and agencies are focused on interventions. Hence, we can’t put a figure to all of the transactions now because the commission is still tracing the transactions.”

Before Shehu’s appointment, she worked as the National Coordinator of the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

She also served with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development under Sadiya Umar-Farouk who is being investigated for 37billion fraud. This was between 2017 and 2022.