By BASHIR ADEFAKA
Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, has been suspended over alleged fraud.
Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, announced the minister’s suspension by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a statement Monday afternoon in Abuja.
Controversy had enveloped Edu’s alleged involvement in the approval of N585,198,500.00 to be disbursed into a personal account.
In a letter allegedly signed by Edu, whose office as minister should see to welfare and alleviation of poverty among Nigerians, she instructed the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer the sum to the account of one Oniyelu Bridget as grants for vulnerable groups in four states.
However, Madein confirmed that although her office received a request from the humanitarian ministry to make certain payments, her office did not act on it.
Edu subsequently said there were plans to tarnish her image, adding that she would not embezzle government funds.
Incidentally, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is presently probing Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, over alleged laundering of N37.1 billion during her tenure as a minister under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The DEFENDER had earlier report Sunday that after criticisms, President Tinubu ordered probe of Betta Edu.
Calls by rights activists and many Nigerians for Edu’s suspension have been intense in the last few days.
Human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN) had called for Edu’s resignation, describing the whole controversy as an “extremely embarrassing drama”.
The senior advocate of Nigeria had cautioned her to stop insulting Nigerians, adding that she failed to deny that she approved the funds to be paid to a private account instead of direct transfer to the beneficiaries’ accounts from the ministry’s.
“It is interesting to note that the minister has not denied that she approved the payment of the over half a billion Naira to a private account in contravention of the extant Public Service Rules as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Act and the Penal Code applicable in the Federal Capital Territory,” Falana had said.
Also, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) had asked the Federal Government and anti-graft agencies to fish out the alleged accomplices of Edu and her predecessor.
“The fraud allegedly perpetrated by both the previous minister, Sadiya, and the current one, definitely, they worked with some people, where are those people? If we want to get to the root of this, we must get them investigated,” said CISLAC Executive Director Auwal Rafsanjani on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Rafsanjani said it was pathetic that a ministry that should be sympathetic to the citizens was caught in the web of alleged funds diversions.
He called on the President to carry out sweeping reforms within ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), stressing that diversions of funds weren’t restricted to the humanitarian ministry.
On Sunday, the Federal Government, through a statement personally signed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris, acknowledged the outrage and said President Tinubu had ordered a thorough probe of Edu’s ministry.
On Monday, the President caved in to pressure and suspended Edu as well as directed the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede “to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions involving the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, as well as one or more agencies thereunder”.
The President also directed the suspended minister to hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the ministry and “fully cooperate with the investigating authorities as they conduct their investigation”.
“Furthermore, the President has tasked a panel that is headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance to, among other functions, conduct a comprehensive diagnostic on the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes with a view to conclusively reforming the relevant institutions and programmes in a determined bid to eliminate all institutional frailties for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households and win back lost public confidence in the initiative.”
Edu, 37, the youngest in the President’s cabinet before her suspension, was a fast-rising Amazon in the political space having occupied state and national offices at a young age. Before her ministerial appointment last August, she was the National Women Leader of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and a former Cross River State Commissioner for Health. Her tenure as minister is perhaps the shortest in a long while.
