Navigating through banana peels and tempestuous waters was certainly not Dr. Betta Edu’s New Year wish but out of the blues, 2024 began on that volcanic note for the Cross River state-born youthful Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
It all started Tuesday, the 2nd of January with the sack by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for alleged humongous fraud to the tune of N44bn, of Shehu Halima, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Programme Investment Agency, NSIPA, an Agency under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
No sooner was Mrs Shehu’s sack announced than several online news platforms broke the news of Edu’s alleged complicit in the NSIPAgate.
According to one of the online news publications sighted by The Source, the Minister was alleged to have unilaterally withdrawn N3bn of the NSIPA fund.
President Tinubu: Booted out Halima Shehu
The alleged N3bn heist was followed by a circulating memo of approval by Dr Edu, for the withdrawal of half a billion Naira for disbursement to four states-Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Lagos and Ogun- for the Renewed Hope Grant for Vulnerable Groups.
The payment of the fund into the account of one Mrs Oniyelu Bridget is ostensibly being cited by the Minister’s traducers as evidence of fraud.
However, caught in the vortex of damaging graft allegations, Edu, a former Commissioner of Health in Cross River and the immediate past National Woman Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has laid bare, her five months stewardship in the Ministry as Minister, challenging her accusers to spot a stain if they could.
This magazine was reliably informed that a powerful cabal, jolted by the audacity of the Minister to call the Presidency’s attention to the alleged N44bn NSIPA fraud, was behind the graft allegations against her.
There are, however, whispers that certain disgruntled career politicians in Cross River who were irked by Dr Edu’s surprise emergence as Minister may have also been sponsoring some of the online publications against the Minister.
The aim, it has been alleged, is to force President Bola Tinubu to dispense with her and name one of them as her replacement.
However, multiple Aso Rock sources told the Magazine that the Presidency is aware that the graft allegations against the Minister are phantom as all funds to her Ministry were duly authorized by the President.
Dr Edu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, in a series of press releases over the issue, alluded to this.
Describing the online story accusing his principal of fraud as incoherent, disjointed and a calculated attempt to smear her, impeach her integrity and derail the mandate given to her by President Tinubu, Zubair said: “For the records, all the Programmes embarked by the Ministry under the Present Minister, Dr Betta Edu, thus far, including Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Grants for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) and others secured the approval of Mr President.
“Therefore, let it be emphatically stated here that at no time did the Minister make unauthorised withdrawals let alone N3 Billion from the NSIPA account or had anything to do with NSIPA funds as alleged by the hack writers.
“The alleged withdrawals only happened in the figment of the imaginations of the merchants of falsehood”
On the half a billion Naira Vulnerable Group Grants allegedly paid into the account of one Oniyelu Beatrice, Zubair clarifies thus: “It is glaring that the same sponsored disgruntled elements who in the past few days have been trying to smear the Honourable Minister, Dr Betta Edu, and stain her integrity because she brought Federal Government’s attention to the ongoing 44.8 Billion fraud in NSIPA are behind this.
“These elements have been trying to link her to a phantom fraud and are behind this latest misadventure.
“However, this latest vile effort of theirs is another infantile blackmail doomed for evisceration.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the said N585,198,500.00 was approved, and it is meant for the implementation of Grants to vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states. We must, however, note that GVG was first launched in the Kogi state where recipients testified.
Halima Shehu: Sacked
“Akwa Ibom and Cross River were launched in December 2023, Kogi already happened in November, and others will be launched in the coming weeks.
“The general public is invited to note that the Renewed Hope Grant for Vulnerable Groups is one of the social intervention schemes of the federal government, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
“Oniyelu Bridget is the Project Accountant for GVG from the Department of Finance and it is Legal in civil service for staff, the Project accountant is to be paid and use the same funds legally and retire with all receipts and evidence after the project or Program is completed.
“The evil motive of the mischief-makers behind the circulation of the memo is well-known and should be ignored”
Meanwhile, a public affairs commentator, Aminu Danbaba has dismissed as “dissipation of energy”, the allegations against the Minister.
Danbaba who said he has been following her trajectory in public office right from her days in the Cross River state government stated: “Having closely followed Dr Edu’s trajectory in public office, it was inconceivable that anyone could accuse her of financial impropriety of any kind because Dr Edu is a stickler for due process and will never circumvent rules to achieve an end, whether such an end is personal or official.
“It is, therefore, obvious that sponsors of the spurious N3bn NSIPA withdrawal allegation against the Minister do not know the Betta Edu persona; otherwise, they would not have dissipated energy concocting the laughable allegation: Betta will NEVER tip her hand into the public treasury”
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