Betta Edu: As corruption takes down an energetic Minister  

There is no question about the energy, vibrancy and enthusiasm that Betta Edu brought to the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Her beauty and wit contributed to her being among the most outstanding of the ministers in the cabinet of about 46 officials.

 

There is also no question that Betta Edu merited her appointment by all standards – a medical doctor by training, former health commissioner of Cross River State and later the National Women’s leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who also served in the nucleus of Tinubu’s presidential campaign. So, a Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management is not a bad compensation for such a profile especially coming at a time of heightened agitation for the youths to be given a chance to prove their youthful viogour in governance.

 

 

The 37-year-old appointment was praised by many. And to be certain that her Senate clearance will go smoothly, Chief of Staff to the president, Femi Gbajabiamila, stood surety for her.

 

 

 

Five months into an eventful tenure where she was always in the news for talking about how to ‘banish’ poverty, a corruption allegation truncated it. But her problem started when she uncovered other loots in the ministry for which her predecessor, Sadiya Umar Farouq is also facing probe.

 

Tinubu ordered Edu’s suspension on January 8, 2024 and even ordered the EFCC to investigate her, like Sadiya. Ironically, both women were guests of the EFCC on January 9, 2024 to answer questions of fraud. And the way things are going, Edu might just become the perfect prop for the government’s advertisement of being straight with Nigerians in matters of corruption.

 

There are three known financial scandals involving Betta Edu. Curiously, the least of them, which is an attempt to pay N585 million meant for vulnerable Nigerians into the private account of a civil servant, is the basis for her suspension.

 

According to the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Maiden, the request by Betta Edu for the payment of such bulk money into the account of an individual was declined by her office because it violated the financial procedure of the government. So, the attempted fraud was aborted by such timely intervention.

 

The government appear uninterested on the other two scandals. The first, allocating N72 million for flight to Kogi, airport taxis and other logistics for her team of six. But Kogi has no airport. So, how did she fly there? And the second, awarding contract of N3 billion to verify the data of vulnerable Nigerians, a data that already exist in the database of the National Population Commission. There are also revelations that beneficiaries of the contract are friends and cronies.

 

A brief of Betta Edu

 

Betta hails from Abi Local government area in Cross River State. She completed her secondary education in 2001 at the Federal Government Girls College, Calabar and obtained her first degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Calabar in 2009.

 

She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health for Developing Countries from London School Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, a master’s degree in Public Health in Developing Countries from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Doctor of Public Health from Texila American University.