The suspended National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, has denied allegations that she diverted ₦44 billion in public funds, insisting the accusations against her are false, politically motivated and unsupported by evidence.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Monday, Shehu maintained that she never transferred government funds into any personal account and said all financial transactions carried out during her tenure complied with established government procedures.
The former NSIPA chief disclosed that before her suspension, she had reported alleged financial control breaches and unauthorised transactions within the agency to anti-corruption agencies.
According to her, she submitted a detailed petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on December 21, 2023, requesting that the matter be escalated to President Bola Tinubu.
She said the petition highlighted alleged violations of financial regulations, including the movement of funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account to various destinations.
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“When I discovered the financial control violations, I reported them to the EFCC while I was still in office,” Shehu said.
“On December 21, 2023, before my suspension, I submitted a detailed letter outlining the breaches of financial regulations, including the movement of funds from the CBN account to various destinations.”
Shehu expressed disappointment that her efforts to expose the alleged irregularities were ignored, saying she was instead suspended about 10 weeks later over allegations that she looted public funds.
“I thought I was supposed to be honoured for the proactive measures I took. I thought I was supposed to be protected,” she said.
Rejecting the allegation that she transferred ₦44 billion into a private account, Shehu challenged investigators to provide evidence linking her to any illicit financial transaction.
“My suspension came on what transfer of 44 billion into private account, which until this moment, I’ll tell you there are false allegations against Halima Shehu. I never transferred 44 billion to any personal account,” she stated.
She further argued that the funds in question were paid to legitimate payment service providers engaged by the ministry and not diverted for personal benefit.
“The EFCC never recovered a penny from my personal account or from my family or from any of my friends.
“The money had gone into the accounts of the payment service providers, which are existing contractors of the ministry,” she added.
The EFCC has yet to publicly respond to Shehu’s latest claims.
