Tinubu suspends humanitarian affairs minister Betta Edu

President Bola Tinubu on Monday suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu over a N585.2 million financial scandal with immediate effect.

The decision, President Tinubu, said is in line with his avowed commitment to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in the management of the commonwealth of Nigerians.

The President has directed the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) 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.

Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement, explained that the suspended Minister “is hereby directed to hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and she is further directed by the President to fully cooperate with the investigating authorities as they conduct their investigation.”

President Tinubu on Sunday directed a comprehensive inquiry into the alleged N585m scandal in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation headed by Edu.

He vowed to “decisively punish” those involved in any breaches and infractions unravelled during the investigations.

The directive was contained in a statement issued by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, as anger grew over the alleged breach of the Federal Government’s financial regulations.

It came just as ministries prepare for their first performance assessment by the end of January.

Several groups and individuals including the Peoples Democratic Party, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Femi Falana, SAN; the Yoruba Youth Assembly and other civil society groups demanded an unfettered probe of the leaked memo by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, instructing the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Oluwatoyin Madein, to pay N585m into the private bank account of a project accountant in her ministry, Bridget Oniyelu.

The minister had claimed that the N585m payment was meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states, describing the allegations against her as baseless.

The Media Assistant to the Minister, Rasheed Olarenwaju, in a statement, said that it was legal within the civil service for such payments to be made into private accounts of staff members, especially project accountants.