Our reporter/ President Bola Tinubu on Monday bowed to pressure and announced the suspension of Minister for humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Betta Edu, from office with immediate effect.
Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, announced the minister’s suspension in a statement on Monday afternoon.
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 the humanitarian minister, 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 won’t embezzle government funds.
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.
On Sunday, the Federal Government acknowledged the outrage and said the President had ordered a thorough probe of Edu’s ministry.
President Tinubu while suspending Edu, 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.”
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