The Health Ministry scandal - Daily Sun

Last week, the Minister of Health, Professor (Mrs.) Adenike Grange, and the Minister of State in the health ministry, Mr. Gabriel Aduku, took a disgraceful exit from public office over alleged financial misconduct. The ministers were forced to resign their appointments by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on March 25, 2008, for flouting a Presidential directive which required that all unspent money from the 2007 budget be returned to the treasury, at the end of 2007.

Grange and Aduku were alleged to have joined four directors and eight other officials of the Health Ministry to share N300 million from the unspent funds through last minute contracts that did not follow due process and fraudulent " Christmas bonuses" for themselves. The Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Health were reported to have also got about N20 million of the looted funds for a capacity building trip to Ghana, although the House of Representatives Committee claims to have returned the money and put the trip on hold when it realized the funds were looted.

Ministry officials involved in the scam have been suspended from their duties in line with civil service regulations. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which investigated the scandal following a tip off by a disgruntled health ministry official, says it has established sufficient grounds for the prosecution of the two ministers. They are to be prosecuted by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa.
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