Exclusive: N1 Billion Into Private Pockets: How Finance Permanent Secretary Lydia Jafiya Routed Public Funds Through Personal Bank Accounts In Six Days

Secrets Reporters

Public funds are meant to move through public channels via ministries, agencies, contractors with verifiable corporate accounts, all traceable and auditable.

What SecretsReporters has now uncovered inside the Federal Ministry of Finance tells a different story: under the approval of Permanent Secretary Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, well over N1 billion in public money was paid not into corporate or contractor accounts, but directly into the personal bank accounts of two junior civil servants, funds meant for international conferences, VIP logistics, and travel that had nothing to do with the personal finances of the individuals receiving them.

The Africa Caucus Meeting: N993 Million moved through two personal accounts. The meeting which held in Abuja from 1st to 3rd August 2024, was funded through a series of payments.

N200,000,000 paid on 31st July 2024 into the personal account of Taiya Pwadinguli Haziel, described as payment for “main event management” in favour of Air Separation Nigeria Limited.

N150,000,000 paid the same day, 31st July 2024, again into Haziel’s personal account, described as payment for “main event management” in favour of Quatro Elements Consult Limited.

N14,957,865 paid on 26th July 2024 into Haziel’s personal account, covering an extraordinary range of items: the then Finance Minister, Olawale Edun breakfast with Executive Directors of the World Bank Group and IMF, hotel accommodation, logistics, allowances, fueling, live streaming on NTA and TVC, honorarium, transportation, VIP lounge furnishing, air tickets, LinkedIn management and PR, a social media wall, design work on communication assets, and live motion graphics for the event website.

N147,899,350 paid on 23rd July 2024 into Haziel’s personal account for Duty Tour Allowance, air ticket, local running and miscellaneous expenses.

N43,217,191 paid the same day, 23rd July 2024, again into Haziel’s personal account for the same categories: Duty Tour Allowance, air ticket, local running and miscellaneous expenses.

N137,044,750 paid on 23rd July 2024 into the personal account of Lucy Edeh Okpanachi for the same Africa Caucus Meeting.

The six payments together sum up N993,119,156, just under a billion Naira paid to two individual civil servants, Taiya Pwadinguli Haziel and Lucy Edeh Okpanachi, neither of whom personally rendered the services these funds were meant to cover.

Two payments alone, N200 million and N150 million were explicitly earmarked “in favour of” two separate named companies, Air Separation Nigeria Limited and Quatro Elements Consult Limited, yet the money never touched those companies’ accounts. It went instead into the personal account of a single civil servant.
SecretsReporters’ review shows that Taiya Pwadinguli Haziel’s cumulative salary and allowances over a full decade of service would not approach N200 million, yet she received that sum in a single transaction, and close to N856 million across five transactions in the space of eight days.

The Vienna and Riyadh Trips: A second account used to hide the trail?

Beyond the Africa Caucus, SecretsReporters traced a separate, equally troubling pattern involving a second individual account:

N12,146,800 paid on 23rd May 2024 into the personal account of Irmiya Jelison Jis, an accountant at the Ministry, “on behalf of” Permanent Secretary Lydia Jafiya, for her attendance at the OFID 187th Governing Board meeting in Vienna, held 6th–8th March 2024.

N11,351,400 paid the same day, 23rd May 2024, again into Jis’s account, on behalf of Jafiya, for a separate Vienna meeting on 20th February 2024.

N6,920,982 paid the same day, 23rd May 2024, again into Jis’s account, on behalf of Jafiya, for her attendance at the OFID Audit Committee Meeting in Vienna, also 20th February 2024.

N19,141,815 paid on 6th May 2024 into Jis’s account, on behalf of Jafiya, for her attendance at the Islamic Development Bank Annual Meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 27th to 31st April 2024.

In every one of these four transactions, the trip was Jafiya’s, the meeting was Jafiya’s, the official duty was Jafiya’s yet the money landed not in her name, but in the account of an accountant who works under her. SecretsReporters’ findings indicate this is not an isolated bookkeeping quirk: Irmiya Jelison Jis is understood to be routinely used to receive funds on the Permanent Secretary’s behalf, in a pattern designed to keep Jafiya’s own account clear of direct traceable receipts tied to her international travel.

These four payments total N49,560,997, public money for the Permanent Secretary’s personal travel, but channeled through a subordinate’s bank account.

Separately, N40,000,000 was paid on 6th May 2024 into the personal account of Lucy Edeh Okpanachi, the same individual who received the ₦137 million Africa Caucus payment for hosting the World Bank and West African Finance Delegation in Nigeria from 6th to 8th February 2024, again with no corporate or contractor account used.

Across every transaction traced, SecretsReporters can account for N1,082,680,153, over N1 billion moved out of Federal Ministry of Finance coffers into the personal accounts of three named civil servants: Taiya Pwadinguli Haziel, Lucy Edeh Okpanachi, and Irmiya Jelison Jis, under the direct approval of Permanent Secretary Lydia Shehu Jafiya and not one of these three individuals is a registered company, a licensed event management firm, or a travel logistics vendor.

Attempt to reach the former permanent secretary turned negative and the ministry has no phone number to be reached on its website for comment.