By Omoyeni Ojeifo
Halima Shehu, former National Coordinator and CEO of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), has said that she proactively reported financial improprieties within the agency to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ahead of her suspension.
In an interview on ARISE News Channel monitored by Persecondnews on Monday, Shehu firmly denied any personal wrongdoing and provided context to demonstrate why the allegations against her lack merit and unfounded.
Shehu said she petitioned the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) after discovering what she described as violations of financial regulations, adding that she also escalated the matter to President Bola Tinubu.
According to her, she resumed office on October 18, 2023, and immediately began reviewing the agency’s finances because she was familiar with its operations and discovered some lapses.
“I discovered weak financial controls. No one was being held accountable, so I began to do my own audit and drew the attention of the minister and the permanent secretary to what I found,” Persecondnews quotes her as saying.
She claimed that although the NSIPA Act made her responsible for implementing programmes and accounting for agency funds, financial decisions were allegedly taken without her approval, leaving her unable to carry out her statutory responsibilities effectively.
“I was to be held accountable for every kobo, every penny and every dollar that left the agency’s accounts. Yet there were movements of funds that I did not approve, authorise or consent to.”
According to Shehu, she formally petitioned the EFCC on December 21, 2023, before taking similar complaints to the ICPC because she believed the alleged violations had gone beyond her administrative authority to address internally.
“When the violations became bigger than me, I called on the EFCC chairman and handed over a letter detailing the breaches of financial regulations. I expected the matter to be escalated appropriately.”
She claimed she was suspended about 10 weeks after submitting the petitions, saying she expected protection as a whistleblower but had yet to receive any response from the agencies she approached before leaving office.
“I thought I was supposed to be honoured for taking proactive measures. I thought I was supposed to be protected, but my suspension came instead,” she added.
The former NSIPA chief insisted that investigators neither recovered any money from her nor linked suspicious funds to her family members or associates.
“I never transferred ₦44 billion to any personal account, and the EFCC never recovered a penny from my personal account, my family’s accounts or those of my friends.”
She appealed to President Tinubu to intervene by ensuring the investigation is concluded and its findings released publicly, maintaining that the unresolved allegations have continued to damage her reputation despite repeated requests for clarification.
Shehu declared: “My integrity is my greatest asset. There may be administrative lapses, but I am not corrupt and I did not take the funds of the poor and vulnerable. I want my name cleared.”
She also defended the agency’s payment process, arguing that programme funds were transferred to licensed payment service providers before beneficiaries received payments, contrary to allegations that she diverted the money into personal accounts.
“These are programme funds transferred to licensed payment service providers. I never transferred ₦44 billion into any personal account because that simply never happened.”
Persecondnews recalls that President Tinubu had suspended Shehu in January 2024 following allegations that ₦44 billion meant for social investment programmes was diverted.
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