EFCC set to prosecute health donor fund looters

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will soon prosecute those found to have mismanaged health donor funds.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, disclosed this at the State House in Abuja yesterday at a meeting President Muhammadu Buhari held with a delegation led by the Chief Executive Officer of Gavi and The Global Fund, Dr. Seth Berkley.

The minister was responding to concerns raised by Berkley over the way donor funds for health care were utilised in the past.

Adewole said the EFCC had already questioned those indicted in the audit report of the donor funds done between 2010 and 2015.

The minister, who said those indicted would soon be arraigned in court, neither named them nor disclosed the specific amounts involved.

Earlier, Berkley had noted that Gavi and The Global Funds were disappointed when a forensic audit revealed systemic weaknesses and corruption in the utilisation of funds given in the past.

He, however, assured that they were willing to “close the books of the past, and look into future support”, as “there is now a breath of fresh air under President Buhari’s leadership and fight against corruption.”

Berkley described the three focal points of the Buhari administration; security, economic development and anticorruption as critical to the future of Nigeria.

President Buhari said his administration was making genuine efforts towards correcting the nation’s lapses.

The president also said his government was very serious “about people behaving themselves and being accountable.”

He said he was impressed with the patience and steadfastness of leading supporters of health care in the country despite the nation’s shortcomings.