The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party , Mr Peter Obi urges President Bola Tinubu to ensure accountability in the alleged scandal with Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr. Betta Edu.
Obi said in a write-up in his X-handle platform on Thursday that the government ought to move beyond the welcomed suspension of the minister and conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
He emphasized the need for the government to address public sector corruption with the urgency it merits.
Obi expressed his disappointment that a ministry, established with good intentions to address the plight of the suffering masses, is now being used as a conduit to exploit the poor, as observed in both current and past ministers of the department.
“I like to add my voice with most Nigerians concerned about accountability in government and judicious use of public funds, to welcome the suspension of Edu, and subsequent directives for her investigation.
“The investigation must be comprehensive so that all those culpable are brought to book,” Obi, a former two-term Anambra governor said.
Cautioning against taking the issue lightly, Obi emphasized that the suspension of the minister should not be a superficial action but rather a starting point to hold all those accountable, ensuring they face consequences similar to the minister
“By a sad coincidence, the alleged fraudulent diversion of N585 million of public money by Edu broke almost at the same moment that the minister who held the same portfolio in the last administration is being investigated for a whopping N37 billion misappropriation.
“The ministry may have been created by the system as a conduit pipe to siphon public funds while using the poor as a face.
“Equally worrisome and disgusting is the fact that the missing funds are meant for poverty alleviation in a time of severe suffering among the people.
“Unfortunately, the ruling elites can shamelessly convert, divert, or misappropriate such huge sums meant for the poor and cannot be trusted to address the severe poverty ravaging the people.
“It is not only immoral but also insensitive for those entrusted with funds for public welfare to steal from the poor,” the Labour Party leader said.
Obi urged the Tinubu administration to utilize these cases as a catalyst for conducting a thorough, system-wide, and systematic investigation into all reported incidents of fraud and corruption among high government officials in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) remembers that President Tinubu suspended Edu on Monday, in the midst of controversies surrounding financial transactions she authorized in her ministry.
The suspension according to a statement by presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale was with immediate effect.
The scandal involved approving payments of hundreds of millions of naira into private accounts of civil servants.
Edu received criticism from Nigerians for instructing the transfer of N585.2 million into the private bank account of a civil servant responsible for managing grants for Vulnerable Nigerians
In December 2023, the minister issued a memo to the Accountant General of the Federation, instructing the transfer of the mentioned amount into the private bank account of the civil servant. (NAN).
Kanyi Daily recalls that Bola Tinubu had suspended Dr. Betta Edu, from office with immediate effect
