Felix Onuah and Alexis Akwagyiram | ABUJANigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday ordered an investigation into corruption allegations against a senior civil servant related to the use of funds intended for handling a humanitarian crisis in the northeast of the country. Buhari suspended David Babachir Lawal, secretary to the Nigerian government, and ordered a probe into contracts awarded under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE), his spokesman said in a statement. Alleged corruption and mismanagement have threatened to intensify the situation, one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, say critics of the government’s handling of the northeast. It said the National Intelligence Agency, Nigeria’s equivalent of the CIA, had said the money belonged to it. A three-man committee, headed by the vice president, is to conduct both investigations and submit its report to the president within 14 days.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 19, 2017 14:26 UTC