…..₦37.1bn probe: “Why I failed to honour EFCC invitation” – Umar-Farouq
The former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar-Farouq has officially written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to explain why she failed to honour its invitation.
The former Minister, who cited health issues, sought an extension of the deadline to meet with the agency’s interrogators over an ongoing probe into the ₦37,170,855,753.44 allegedly laundered during her tenure in office, through a contractor, James Okwete.
According to the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, Umar had sent a legal representative to the commission and has written to the commission seeking to be given more time to honour the invitation while citing health challenges.
“The former Humanitarian Minister didn’t appear before the commission yesterday, but she sent in a letter pleading for more time and also explaining that she has some health challenges and that was why she couldn’t honour the invitation. She also sent in her lawyer to meet with interrogators.
“However, the commission has mandated her to submit herself to the commission without further delay. We are still tracing all the transactions, hence we cannot put a figure to everything now as the investigation is still ongoing,” Oyewale stated.