Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation currently under suspension, has been denied access to meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
According to TVC, the suspended minister was denied a meeting with the President shortly after her suspension was officially declared by the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale.
In a video observed by our correspondent, Edu promptly departed from the State House upon being denied access to the president and was chauffeured away in a black SUV.
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited the minister to its headquarters located in Jabi, Abuja over an alleged N585m scandal.
An impeccable EFCC source, who confirmed the development to Daily Trust, revealed that the anti-graft agency’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had earlier recommended the suspension of the Minister to the President to pave the way for proper investigation.
The invitation came less than an hour after President Bola Tinubu announced Edu’s suspension from office and ordered the EFCC to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions involving the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, as well as one or more agencies thereunder.
The president also directed the suspended Minister to hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry and directed her to fully cooperate with the investigating authorities as they conduct their investigation.
Tinubu also tasked a panel headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to, among other functions, conduct a comprehensive diagnostic on the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes with a view to conclusively reforming 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.
