Betta Edu: No sacred cow, says Presidency
The Bola Tinubu administration, according to the presidency on Sunday, has no sacred cows and would not spare anyone found guilty in the current probe of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and its Social Investment Programs.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, mentioned this when he spoke on TVC’s Politics on Sunday.
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was instructed by Tinubu 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,” in addition to suspending Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, on January 7.
Additionally, he assigned a panel led by Mr. Wale Edun, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, with the following duties: “conduct a comprehensive diagnostic on the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programs to conclusively reform the relevant institutions and programs in a determined bid to win back lost public confidence in the initiative and eliminate all institutional frailties for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households.”
Providing background to the ongoing probe, Ngelale said, “The President has given full instruction to the EFCC chairman to not only conduct a thorough investigation.
“No one, no identity, should be left out if they are found wanting in the circumstances, is how the President would oversee such an investigation. No sacred cows at all.
“Wherever the EFCC and other investigative agencies decide to take this inquiry. That’s where the inquiry needs to go, and the president will act in that regard.
After a leaked memo on December 20 revealed that Edu had ordered Oluwatoyin Madein, the Accountant-General of the Federation, to transfer N585 million to a private account owned by Oniyelu Bridget—who the ministry claimed was currently the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups—Nigerians became enraged with her.
