The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revealed that it has recovered N30 billion in the alleged money laundering case involving the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu.
TheHintsNews reports that on January 8, President Bola Tinubu, suspended Edu from office and ordered a thorough investigation of the alleged transfer of N585.189m meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos states into a private account.
However, in a bulletin titled, “EFCC Alert and signed by its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede also revealed that 50 bank accounts were currently being investigated.
Giving an update on the case, Olukoyede said the agency has laws and regulations guiding it’s investigations.
He noted: “With respect to this particular case, we have recovered over N30 billion, which is already in the coffers of the Federal Government.
“It takes time to conclude investigations; we started this matter less than six weeks ago. There are cases that take years to investigate. There are so many angles to it. And we need to follow through some of the discoveries that we have seen.
“Nigerians should give us time on this matter; we have professionals on this case and they need to do things right. There are so many leads here and there.
“As it is now, we are investigating over 50 bank accounts we have traced money into. That is no child’s play. That’s a big deal. Then you ask about my staff strength. And again, we have thousands of other cases that we are working on.”
The EFCC boss stressed that Nigerians have seen the impact of what the agency has done so far, by way of some people being placed on suspension and by way of the recoveries that it has made.
He added: “You have seen that the programme itself has been suspended. We are exploring so many discoveries that we have stumbled upon in our investigation.
“If it is about seeing people in jail, well let them wait, everything has a process to follow. So Nigerians should wait and give us the benefit of the doubt.”