President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, from office with immediate effect.
The suspended Minister was instructed to immediately hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and cooperate with the investigating authorities as they conduct their investigation.
A terse statement from the Presidency today said the action was in line with the Tinubu administration’s
‘avowed commitment to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability in the management of the commonwealth of Nigerians’.
The statement also directed the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) 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.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has tasked a panel headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance to, among other functions, conduct a comprehensive diagnostic on the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes with a view to conclusively reforming the relevant institutions and programmes in a determined bid to eliminate all institutional frailties for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households and win back lost public confidence in the initiative.