President Bola Tinubu has been advised to dismiss Minister Betta Edu from her position in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation due to allegations of financial misappropriation.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) released a statement on Saturday, urging Edu to resign as minister and cooperate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for questioning.
HURIWA’s call comes in light of the ongoing investigation into a N44.8 billion fraud in the National Social Investment Program (NSIPA), which involves public funds allegedly deposited into a private individual’s bank account.
The group highlights the importance of adhering to the 2009 public sector financial regulations, which prohibit the transfer of public funds to private accounts.
HURIWA also emphasizes that it would be a serious breach if the president does not take action against his representative in the social investment coordinating office, who is accused by the EFCC of transferring over N34 billion of public funds into private accounts.
It encouraged the President and the EFCC to utilize best worldwide practices in enforcing anti-graft legislation, arguing that the law should not be crafted to favor persons who are key officials in the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
“We are not accusing the minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation of committing any infractions, but based on the media statements that her office has issued so far, the attempt to convince Nigerians that it is lawful to keep public fund in private account is just like the polemic promoted by one erstwhile civilian governor of Kano State in the second Republic,” HURIWA said.
“It is incongruous and indeed puerile to say that on one hand, the EFCC arrested one official of the same government over allegations of payments of public funds into private accounts but on the same breath, a cabinet level minister is inundating the public space with her submission that keeping public money in private account of someone heading a certain portfolio, is appropriate.
“This sounds illogical and fallacious and by the way, if as the Minister argued that under a certain civil service rule, public funds can be kept in private accounts, why then does the financial regulations act governing public service in Nigeria say the exact opposite?”
According to HURIWA, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, has expressed concern over “disgruntled elements” attempting to tarnish her name in the aftermath of the federal government’s current N44.8 billion fraud probe in NSIPA.
