How ministers, others shared N300m health fund - Director

By Our Reporter - 15.04.2008

SUSPENDED Director of Administration in the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. H.B. Oyedepo, has given details of how the ministry’s N300 million unspent budget scam was conceived and hatched.

In his statement to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Oyedepo, who is one of the 11 accused persons being tried at an Abuja High Court, said the decision to share the money as “welfare package” was taken by the then management of the ministry.

The statement, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, was dated March 7.

“I want to state that the decision to pay welfare package was a management decision involving the two ministers (Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku), the Permanent Secretary and the three service directors,” he said, adding that also involved were the three directors including himself, the Director of Finance and the Director of Personnel Services.

“It was only the details that were worked out without the input of the ministers.

“It is necessary to state that the sharing of the money with respect to who gets what was done in the Permanent Secretary’s office with the permanent secretary, myself and the other directors present,’’ he said.

He explained that “although Grange advised that her own share of N10 million be shared to junior staff, the money was never returned by her personal assistant until Thursday, February 28.

“The money was returned after I told the minister that the EFCC had directed that everybody should return what was paid to him or her,’’ he added.

Oyedepo further said in the statement that Aduku was more anxious to get his own part of the money.

“In the case of the Minister of State, he had in fact, been getting apprehensive that the money was not paid to him in time. He said that he had wanted to travel, but that we have been delaying him because of the non-payment of the money to him earlier than we did.

“That was why he was the one to be paid first; the minister (Grange) was paid the following week,’’ he said, adding that “He also never returned the money until February 28 when I demanded for it.

“All my staff were present when his personal assistant in the company of two others brought it to my office,’’ he said.

On the sharing formula, Oyedepo said “the three service directors got N3.5 million each while the permanent secretary, minister of state and the minister got N5 million, N7 million and N10 million respectively.

He said N20 million was paid to the National Assembly. “The sharing as to how much each category of staff got was done in an informal meeting between the permanent secretary; myself; the Director (PSO) and the Director of Finance,’’ he said.

The accused, who has served in various capacities in the civil service for 33 years, alleged that it was the officer in charge of supplies that initiated some of the purported contracts awarded to siphon the money, while he (Oyedepo) signed the papers. Oyedepo initially denied knowing all the companies used for the deal.

However, after a search of his residence by the EFCC and retrieval of certain documents, he confessed that Strondax Ltd., one of the companies used for the purported contracts, was owned by his son, Omodele.

The EFCC had on April 8 arraigned the ex-ministers and nine others for alleged conspiracy, fraud, forgery and criminal breach of trust.

The other nine are Oyedepo, the Permanent Secretary; Professor Simon Ogandi, Hanafi Mohammed, Donald Ekanem and Donatus Inyang.

The rest are J. A. Olomo, Obanla Olatunbosun, Henry Onyeagwalam and Edem Bassey.

The accused had pleaded not guilty to the 55-count charge jointly filed against them by the EFCC.

Justice Salisu Garba had since remanded them in EFCC’s custody. Charged with them is Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health.

Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is accused of conspiracy and retention of proceeds of crimes and stolen property.