President Bola Tinubu has approved the suspension of Halima Shehu as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
Tinubu approved the immediate suspension and investigation of Ms Shehu, while Dr Akindele Egbuwalo the National N-Power Programme manager was appointed in acting capacity as NC/CEO pending the conclusion of the investigation.
Halima Shehu was appointed by President Tinubu in October 2023, and her appointment was confirmed by the Senate on October 18, 2023.
Shehu worked as the National Coordinator of the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, where she used her banking and career expertise to see to the digitalisation of the programme.
The former banker worked at the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, from 2017 to 2022.
Shehu was born in Kafin Dagi village, Katsina, Katsina State, Shehu had her First School Leaving Certificate, and attended the Federal Government College, Kaduna State, for her secondary school education, where she obtained her West African Examination Certificate.
The former NSIPA joined politics in 2010, during which she was first appointed in 2011 as a Senior Special Assistant to a former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema. She also served as a member of the state’s Internal Revenue Board.
In 2016, she was appointed by the Economic Community of West African Countries, where she temporarily worked as a presidential election observer in Cape Verde.
