He was, according to the investigation, also responsible for the withdrawal of the money and its disbursement. Vanguard gathered yesterday that the commission has recovered N106 million of the N300 million from officials of the ministry.

One of the culprits in the scam and Principal Admin Officer in the ministry who confessed that his own share was N400,000 which has been returned, was said to have corroborated the EFCC’s findings that it was the Chief Accountant that ordered that the money be withdrawn and shared.

Vanguard gathered that when the first batch of the amount was disbursed, a sum of N17 million was sent to the former Health Minister, Adenike Grange through her Personal Assistant, Mrs. Roberts, but that she (Minister), who was not carried along in the plot, ordered her to take the money back to the source it came from.

Meanwhile, a source at EFCC told Saturday Vanguard that the Commission has received the permission of the presidency to prosecute the suspects in line with the rule of law stance of the Yar’Adua administration.

Though the suspects were all granted bail after interrogation, it was gathered that lawyers from EFCC and officials from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondaaka, are presently putting finishing touches to the charge sheet and that the suspects may be charged to court next week.

It will be recalled that former Health Minister, Grange, Minister of State, Gabriel Adukwu, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, permanent secretary Professor Simon Ogamdi, Director of Finance, Mr. Hamafi Muhammed and Director of Administration, Dr. H. B. Oyedepo and others, were invited and interrogated by the EFCC last Tuesday over the alleged fraud.