The suspension according to a statement by presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale is with immediate effect.
President Bola Tinubu on Monday suspended the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, following controversies about financial transactions she authorised in her ministry.
The suspension according to a statement by presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale is with immediate effect.
PREMIUM TIMES reported the scandal including the approval of payment of hundreds of millions of naira into private accounts of civil servants.
Mrs Edu has come under criticism from Nigerians for ordering the transfer of N585.2 million into the private bank account of a civil servant, who is the accountant in charge of grants for Vulnerable Nigerians.
The minister had issued a memo to the Accountant General of the Federation in December 2023 ordering the said amount to be paid into the civil servant's private bank account.
According to Mr Ngelale's statement, the suspension is in line with the president's avowed commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in the management of the commonwealth of Nigerians.
"The President further directs 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 thereunder," Mr Ngelale said.
Mrs Edu was directed to hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry.
The president also tasked a panel led by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance to, among other functions, conduct a comprehensive diagnostic of the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes.
The purpose of this is to conclusively reform 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.
Ministry Scandal
A few days after Mrs Edu ordered the suspension of an official for alleged financial impropriety, documents leaked to the public showed that she ordered the payment of N585.2 million into the private bank account of a civil servant, who is the accountant in charge of Grants for Vulnerable Nigerians.
A leaked memo showed that the minister had in December, requested Oluwatoyin Madein, the accountant general of the federation, to transfer the money from the account of the National Social Investment Office to the private account of Bridget Oniyelu, the accountant of a federal government poverty intervention project called Grants for Vulnerable Groups, a project under Mrs Edu's ministry.
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The request contravenes various sections of Nigeria's Financial Regulations 2009 meant to prevent fraud and other forms of corruption in government business.
Speaking through her media aide, Rasheed Zubair, on Friday, Mrs Edu insisted that the act is legal in the country's civil service. She alleged that she was being targeted for her stance against corruption.
However, Chapter Seven, Section 713 of Nigeria's Financial Regulations 2009 states that "Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account."
It also added that "Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention."
Mrs Madein on Saturday distanced herself from the controversy adding that her agency had advised the ministry of the proper mode of such transfers.
"The Ministry was advised on the appropriate steps to take in making such payments in line with the established payment procedure," she said. "No bulk payment is supposed to be made to an individual's account in the name of the Project Accountant."
