Former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Mrs. Nkechi Ejele has been invited and quizzed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) over alleged financial impropriety. Her interrogation has opened a window into the scandal that rocked the poverty alleviation programme of the Goodluck Jonathan government.
SURE-P (Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme) was introduced to alleviate suffering of the masses, aftermath of the increase in the pump price of petroleum products but it has been fraught with fraud as money meant for the real beneficiaries never got to them. Investigations revealed that whereas beneficiaries were supposed to receive N10,000 monthly stipend, the money never got to some of them. Arbitrary deductions were made from the payments of others while in some cases, the payment was once in two months.
In the case of Mrs. Ejele, she is being investigated for the part she played in the alleged misappropriation of the SURE-P money released to her Ministry between 2013 and 2014.
She arrived the EFCC headquarters about 10.00am Thursday and was ushered into an interrogation room where she responded to inquiries from the EFCC officials .
Mrs. Ejele was one of the 17 Perm Secretaries relieved of their positions by President Muhammadu Buhari where he gave hint of some corrupt Perm Secretaries who would be facing prosecution.
An EFCC source told our reporter that Mrs Ejele was not a lone traveller. “We are closing in on other members of a syndicate that ruined the SURE-P programme. It is messier than what we first thought. We will keep the public posted as we make more in-roads”, the source said.
Unconfirmed sources said a former minister and a senior Presidency official were among those who dipped their hands into the SURE-P till.
