Betta Edu arrives EFCC office for interrogation over alleged ₦585m scandal

Bayo Wahab 14:20 - 09 January 2024

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta-Edu. [Daily Trust]

Edu and other Tinubu’s ministers were sworn in in August 2023.

Betta Edu, the suspended Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Minister, has arrived at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja.

The EFCC invited Edu on Monday, January 8, 2024, shortly after President Bola Tinubu suspended her over an alleged controversial ₦585 million payment to a private bank account.

In a statement announcing the suspension, the president asked her to immediately hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the ministry and urged her to fully cooperate with the investigating authorities.

The anti-graft agency was reported to have sent an invitation to the suspended minister less than 30 minutes after her suspension from office was announced.

Pulse had earlier reported that Edu was expected to show up for interrogation at the EFCC headquarters on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

Edu and other Tinubu’s ministers were sworn in in August 2023. She’s, however, the first minister to be suspended by the president.

ALSO READ: 7 appointees suspended over financial fraud allegations

The chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, was said to have advised the president to suspend the embattled minister to pave the way for a thorough investigation.