Seven officials in the Federal Ministry of Health have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for their alleged role in the diversion of over $4million which was part of the money given to Nigeria by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Global Fund is an international financing organisation that aims to attract and disburse additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.According to an EFCC source, the suspects were arrested following a directive by the Presidency that the culprits should be brought to book.
The seven officials are from the Department of Health Planning, Research and Statistics, which was in charge of managing the fund.Global Fund, through the Office of the Inspector-General of Police, had in May issued a report in which it accused Nigerian officials of embezzling part of the fund. It alleged irregularities such as the payment of $20m to suppliers without confirming delivery and the failure to account for $3.7m supposedly spent on anti-retroviral drugs. The organisation added that seven out of 10 Nigerian health officials and three consultants were linked to the misappropriation of funds through inflating hotel bills, falsifying receipts, claiming expenditures for travel not made, and colluding with and receiving kickbacks from hotel operators and suppliers.
