Resign now, Falana tells Betta Edu
Femi Falana, a human rights crusader and lawyer, has asked the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu to resign from office following alleged attempt to divert ₦585.2m of public funds.
TheCornet had reported that Edu, in a leaked memo, requested the accountant-general of the federation Oluwatoyin Madein to pay the said sum into a private bank account belonging to a civil servant in the ministry. The funds, she said, was meant to be distributed to vulnerable persons in four states, namely Akwa Ibom, Calabar, Lagos, and Ogun.
Falana, in a statement on Sunday, said that it was apparent the minister intended to divert the funds, in disregard to the “extant Public Service Rules, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Act, and the Penal Code applicable in the Federal Capital Territory.”
He added that the minister, despite being exposed, failed to “apologise to the Federal Government and people of Nigeria for betraying the confidence reposed in her.
“There can be no legal justification for the criminal diversion of the said sum of N585.18 million for disbursement to vulnerable people in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Lagos and Ogun States since the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs has collated the individual bank accounts of all the vulnerable people,” he said.
“Having regard to the facts and circumstances of this extremely embarrassing drama, we commend the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for the recovery of the sum of N37 billion meant for vulnerable people in Nigeria.
“We also call on the Commission to speed up the ongoing investigation of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs with a view to charging all indicted persons before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory as soon as possible.”
Following the uproar that greeted the scandal, President Bola Tinubu is said to have ordered a probe.
Muhammed Idris, the minister of information and national orientation, revealed the President’s directive on Sunday.
The minister said the outcome of the probe would be made public and that appropriate sanctions would be meted out to anyone found culpable in the matter.
Edu has denied wrongdoing. She blamed her ordeal on her detractors. She claimed her exposing a ₦44billion fraud perpetrated in the office of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) is the reason her detractors are after her.
