EFCC Chair Says One Of These Female Ministers Bought $37m Property

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, left many Nigerians puzzled when he revealed on Tuesday that a female minister had acquired a property for a whopping $37.5 million.

Bawa did not reveal the identity of the female minister or the office she occupies, but sources in the EFCC confirmed to THE WHISTLER that the minister in question is serving in the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The EFCC chairman made the shocking revelation while decrying how the real estate sector had become a conduit for moving funds diverted from government coffers.

“We investigated a matter in which a bank MD marketed a property to a minister and agreed to purchase it at $37.5m. The bank then sent a vehicle to her house to evacuate $20m from her house in the first instance,” Bawa had said during his appearance on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, adding that “Without the help of the banker, the minister couldn’t have imagined collecting $20m from anyone with opportunity from the real sector; she could not have thought of where to launder the proceeds of crime.”

If the shocking statement can be taken to the bank, it would mean that Bawa is referring to one out of the following female ministers currently serving in President Buhari’s cabinet.

Zainab Ahmed – Finance, Budget and National Planning.

Ahmed, an accountant, has been serving as Nigeria’s finance minister since 2018, following the resignation of Kemi Adeosun as finance minister.

President Buhari had consolidated two ministries in his second term and named her as the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning in 2019.

While Zainab has not been directly linked to any corruption scandal, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had called for her sacking after a sitting governor claimed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had been printing billions of naira for states’ monthly allocations.

The PDP had accused the minister of “attempting to mislead Nigerians by denying the revelations by the Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, that N60 billion was printed in March to support federal allocation to states.”

Sharon Ikeazor – Minister of state for Environment

Ikeazor, a lawyer and management consultant, had served as the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate before she was appointed as Minister of State for Environment.

Her professional experience in the private sector include serving as company lawyer to Shell Petroleum. She also worked with the Nigerian Merchant Bank, Nerderlansce Middenstandbank and Midas Merchant Bank, amongst other national and international banks.

Ikeazor was once the vice president for business development and government relations for the United States Consulting firm, Good Works International (GWI) Consulting, and principal consultant for General Electric (GE).

She delved into politics in 2011 and has held different positions, including National Women leader of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Interim National Women leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and member, APC Board of Trustees.

Gbemisola Saraki- Minister of state for Transportation

She is a former senator representing Kwara central senatorial district and former member of the House of Representatives representing Asa/Ilorin West Federal Constituency.

The minister is also a sister to the immediate past Senate President and former Kwara State Governor, Bukola Saraki.

Born to a wealthy family, Saraki attended the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Economics.

President Buhari appointed her as the Pro Chancellor and Chairperson of the Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, in 2016 and subsequently as state transport minister in 2019.

Dame Pauline Tallen – Minister for Women Mata

Tallen earned the respect of many in 2015 when she rejected her nomination by President Buhari as an ambassador. She had cited federal character and zoning in her state as her reasons.

Buhari tapped her again for appointment as women affairs minister in 2019.

She had previously served as science and technology minister under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration and as deputy former governor of Plateau State.

Tallen’s political career spans over 25 years.

Ramatu Tijani Aliyu – Minister of state for Federal Capital Territory

The Kogi born politician had at different times served as the national woman leader of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the APC.

Prior to her appointment as a minister in 2019, Aliyu worked briefly as managing director at a civil engineering construction firm.

She is the founder, Global Women and Youth Empowerment Strategy (GLOWYES).

Maryam Katagum – Minister of state of Industry, Trade and Investment

Katagum, a former federal civil servant, was appointed minster in 2019.

The 67-year-old is a Nigeria’s permanent delegate to UNESCO and had worked at the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO for about 20 years.

The implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is top on Katagum’s goals in office.

Sadiya Umar Faruk – Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development

Farouk, the youngest minister in Buhari’s cabinet, has been linked with a number of corruption allegations, particularly as it pertains to her ministry’s implementation of the Buhari administration’s Social Investment Programme.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC), Bolaji Owasanoye, had said that part of a N2.67 billion approved for the federal government’s school feeding programme was diverted to private accounts.

Owasanoye made the claim at a public function presided over by President Buhari in 2020.

The minister had described reporting of the claim as malicious and unfair, saying “That the ICPC recovered N16 billion worth of assets from the said ministry which was paid into an individual account for non-official purposes and not the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.”