The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has asked the Federal Government and anti-graft agencies to fish out the alleged accomplices of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu; and her predecessor, Sadiya Farouq.
“The fraud allegedly perpetrated by both the previous minister, Sadiya, and the current one, definitely, they worked with some people, where are those people? If we want to get to the root of this, we must get them investigated,” said CISLAC Executive Director Auwal Rafsanjani on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Rafsanjani said it was pathetic that a ministry that should be sympathetic to the citizens was caught in the web of alleged funds diversions.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to carry out sweeping reforms within ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), stressing that alleged diversions of funds weren’t restricted to the humanitarian ministry.
The rights activist lauded the Federal Government for probing the minister and her predecessor, saying the new administration must take the probes seriously because the country was broke and needed money.
“We will not let this matter die, this is one of the many of it,” Rafsanjani said, calling on the government to have the political will to pursue both probes till the end and extend such investigations to other MDAs.
Controversy had enveloped Edu’s alleged involvement in the approval of N585,198,500.00 to be disbursed into a personal account, though the minister said some persons planned to tarnish her image. The President subsequently ordered the probe of Edu’s ministry.
Incidentally, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is presently probing Edu’s predecessor, Farouq, over the alleged laundering of N37.1 billion during her tenure as a minister under the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
