Business
FG Probes Fraud Allegations In You Win Scheme
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, says the ministry is investigating allegations of fraudulent beneficiaries of the YouWin entrepreneurship programme.
A statement by the Ministry’s Director of Information, Mr Salisu Dambatta, in Abuja , quoted Adeosun as saying that some allegations were received from an anonymous whistleblower which provided documentary evidence of irregularities for 10 cases.
According to the statement, the minister ordered an internal investigation to determine the veracity of the allegation and report the findings back to her for necessary action.
“The substance of the allegations was that an awardee was the child of a former Director in the Ministry and there were a number of cases where married couples each benefitted.
“This raised concerns about the integrity of the original selection process which took place in 2014.
“The position of the Ministry is that investigations are ongoing under the Presidential Initiative on Continuos Audit (PICA) which will review each suspected case to determine whether any irregularity occurred.
“In the interim, disbursements of this batch have been suspended, “she said.
Adeosun said that the YouWin programme, which was a programme of the former administration, currently had a legally binding commitments of grants to 1,500 entrepreneurs, running into multi-millions of naira.
“The administration decided that those commitments should be honoured.