Just In: President Tinubu orders probe of Dr. Betta Edu’s ministry; vows to take action

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a thorough probe of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation led by Betta Edu.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made this known in a statement on Sunday.

Controversy had enveloped Edu’s alleged involvement in the approval of N585,198,500.00 to be disbursed into a personal account. In a leaked memo on December 20, allegedly signed by the humanitarian minister, she allegedly instructed the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer the sum to the account of one Oniyelu Bridget as grant for vulnerable groups in four states.

However, Madein explained that although her office received a request from the humanitarian ministry to make certain payments, her office did not act on it.

Edu, 37, the youngest minister in the President’s cabinet, subsequently said there were plans to t@rnish her image, adding that she won’t embezzle government funds. Incidentally, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is presently probing Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, over alleged laundering of N37.1 billion during her tenure as a minister under the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement on Sunday, the information minister acknowledged the uproar over the development in the humanitarian ministry under Edu, saying that the “government is determined to unravel the truth”.