Nigerian president suspends humanitarian minister in corruption scandal | Corruption News
Betta Edu and predecessor are being investigated for suspicious monetary dealings in the humanitarian affairs ministry.
Nigeria’s president on Monday suspended the nation’s minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation over using a non-public checking account for ministry monetary transactions in the federal government’s social welfare program.
Betta Edu was suspended with speedy impact whereas Nigeria’s anticorruption company carries out a “thorough investigation” of all ministry monetary transactions,” presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale mentioned in a press release. It mentioned the investigation would lengthen to your complete framework of Nigeria’s social funding applications.
President Bola Tinubu got here to energy final 12 months promising to crack down on graft in Nigeria regardless of longstanding query marks round his supply of wealth and academic information. Within a month of his inauguration, he suspended the pinnacle of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) indefinitely for abuse of workplace.
His authorities mentioned the suspension follows his dedication “to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability” in how Nigeria’s assets are managed.
Edu’s suspension comes days after native media cited an official memo in which she directed that 585 million naira ($663,000) price of grants meant for weak teams must be paid into a non-public account — a call that the minister’s workplace mentioned adopted due course of. The minister has denied any wrongdoing.
In a rustic the place the federal government’s austerity measures have additional squeezed thousands and thousands of individuals dealing with excessive ranges of poverty, many Nigerians criticised using a non-public checking account for the grants program and referred to as for the minister to be fired.
The workplace of Nigeria’s Accountant General of the Federation mentioned in a press release that such funds are supposed to be despatched straight from authorities accounts to the beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Umar Farouq, reported to the EFCC on Monday because it investigated alleged corruption in the disbursement of public funds throughout her time as minister. Farouq mentioned on social media that she was on the fee’s workplace to “offer clarifications in respect of some issues that the commission is investigating”.
