Tinubu’s Minister, Betta Edu, Clears Name in NSIPA N3bn Corruption Scandal
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, has cleared her name from the alleged involvement in the N3 billion corruption scandal rocking the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
The scandal came to light after the suspension of the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of NSIPA, Hajia Halima Shehu, by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday. Shehu was accused of laundering over N37 billion from the NSIPA funds and was interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for several hours.
According to some online media reports, Shehu had implicated Edu in the allegation, claiming that the minister had authorized the withdrawal of N3 billion from the NSIPA account without due process. However, Edu, in a statement signed by her spokesperson, Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, vehemently denied any wrongdoing and described the accusations as baseless and unfounded.
Edu said that the allegations were orchestrated by fifth columnists with the sole intent of tarnishing her well-earned reputation and integrity amid the ongoing investigation of the NSIPA scandal by the EFCC. She emphasized that during her four months in office as the minister, she had neither sought nor authorized the withdrawal of N3 billion from the NSIPA funds.
She also stated that all the programmes embarked upon by the ministry under her leadership, including Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Grants for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) and others, had secured the approval of the president. Furthermore, she urged the public to disregard the false and malicious reports linking her to the NSIPA scandal and assured them of her commitment to the mandate of the ministry.
Edu said that she was ready to cooperate with the EFCC and any other relevant agency in the course of the investigation and expressed confidence that the truth would prevail at the end.
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