Tinubu suspends Betta Edu over the Humanitarian Ministry Scandal
Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, stated that the suspension is effective immediately.
Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, was suspended on Monday by President Bola Tinubu due to problems surrounding financial transactions she allowed in her ministry.
Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, stated that the suspension is effective immediately.
Mrs. Edu has faced condemnation from Nigerians for directing the transfer of N585.2 million into the private bank account of a civil official who is the accountant in charge of grants for vulnerable Nigerians.
In December 2023, the minister issued a memo to the Accountant General of the Federation, instructing that the specified amount be paid into the Civil servant’s private bank account.
According to Mr Ngelale’s statement, the suspension is consistent with the president’s stated commitment to sustaining the greatest standards of honesty, transparency, and accountability in the governance of Nigerians.
“The President further directs 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,” the statement read.
Mrs. Edu was told to hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry.
The president also charged a commission led by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the Minister of Finance with, among other tasks, conducting a detailed diagnostic of the financial architecture and structure of social investment programs.
The goal is to comprehensively restructure the necessary institutions and programs in a concerted effort to eliminate any institutional flaws for the sole benefit of disadvantaged households and reestablish public trust in the initiative.
A few days after Mrs. Edu ordered the suspension of an official for alleged financial misconduct, records leaked to the public revealed that she approved the transfer of N585.2 million to the private bank account of a civil servant who is the accountant in charge of Grants for Vulnerable Nigerians.
A leaked memo revealed that in December, the minister urged Oluwatoyin Madein, the federation’s accountant general, to move the money from the National Social Investment Office’s account was transferred to the private account of Bridget Oniyelu, the accountant for the federal government’s poverty intervention project Grants for Vulnerable Groups, which falls under Mrs. Edu’s ministry.
The request violates several articles of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009, which aim to combat fraud and other forms of corruption in government business.
Mrs. Edu, speaking through her media aide Rasheed Zubair on Friday, emphasized that the act is legitimate in the country’s civil service. She said that she was being targeted because of her stance against corruption.
However, Chapter Seven, Section 713 of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009 specifies that “Personal money shall under no circumstances be put into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account.”
It further stated, “Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.”
Mrs Madein distanced herself from the scandal on Saturday, stating that her agency advised the ministry on the proper procedure for such transfers.
“The Ministry was advised on the appropriate steps to take in making such payments in line with the established payment procedure,” the spokesperson said. “No bulk payment is supposed to be made to an individual’s account in the name of the project accountant.”
Source: Updated Humanitarian Ministry Scandal: Tinubu suspends Betta Edu