President Bola Tinubu took action on Sunday by ordering a thorough investigation into the alleged misappropriation of N585m within the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. In response, he pledged to mete out severe consequences to anyone found culpable of misconduct or breaches identified during the inquiry. This directive was relayed through a statement from Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, as public outrage intensified regarding potential violations of the Federal Government’s financial regulations.
This development coincides with ministries gearing up for their initial performance evaluations slated for the end of January. Various entities, including the Peoples Democratic Party, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Femi Falana, SAN, the Yoruba Youth Assembly, and other civil society groups, have demanded an unimpeded investigation into a leaked memo allegedly authored by Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. The memo purportedly instructed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer N585m into the private bank account of a project accountant, Bridget Oniyelu, in her ministry.
While Betta Edu defended the payment, stating its intended use for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states, denying any wrongdoing, her Media Assistant, Rasheed Olarenwaju, clarified that such payments into private accounts of staff, particularly project accountants, were permissible within civil service protocols.
@PUNCH newspaper