Prosecute Betta Edu And Those Who Stole Poverty Alleviation Funds, Peter Obi Urges Tinubu

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has urged President Bola Tinubu to prosecute suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, and those indicted in the fraud at the humanitarian affairs ministry.

The ministry has been at the centre allegation of fraud after Edu requested that payment be made into a private account.

Documents sighted by THE WHISTLER also showed she approved payment for flight tickets for herself and some staff of the ministry to travel to Kogi State.

Kogi has no airport. The suspended minister and her team went by road to the state.

She was accused of using the trip to commit fraud and is undergoing questioning at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Obi expressed consternation that money meant for the poor could be stolen in such a manner and said investigation must be widened to ensure anyone found culpable is brought to book.

Expressing his view on Wednesday in a statement he shared on his X handle formerly Twitter, Obi said “I welcome the suspension of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Ms. Betta Edu, and subsequent directives for her investigation.

“While the action of the government is a welcome development, the investigation must be comprehensive so that all those culpable are brought to book.”

He warned that the “suspension of the minister should not be a window-dressing action but should be a peg to get at all those who are deserving of blame and punished just like the Minister.

“By a sad coincidence, the alleged fraudulent diversion of N585 million of public money by Ms. Edu broke almost at the same moment that the minister who held the same portfolio in the last administration is being investigated for a whopping N37 billion misappropriation,” Obi said.

He added that the “ministry may have been created by the system as a conduit pipe to syphon public funds while using the poor as a face.

“Equally worrisome and disgusting is the fact that the missing funds are meant for poverty alleviation in a time of severe suffering among the people.

“Unfortunately, a ruling elite that can shamelessly convert, divert, or misappropriate such huge sums meant for the poor cannot be trusted to address the severe poverty ravaging the people.”

He stressed that it “is not only immoral but also insensitive for those entrusted with funds for public welfare to literally steal from the poor.

“I call on the administration to use these cases to initiate a thorough system-wide and systematic investigation of all reported cases of fraud and corruption among high government officials in the country.

“I join all Nigerians in calling on the government to accord the problem of public sector corruption the severe urgency it deserves.”