By Laraba MUREY
Staff at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation are WANTING the official handover of the ministry’s affairs to the Permanent Secretary, Abel Enitan, following the suspension of the minister.
This is contrary to social media reports that the permanent secretary had immediately assumed responsibility.
Fillers from the ministry suggested that Mr Enitan is still awaiting the official memo regarding the suspension and directive before taking any action.
President Bola Tinubu had on Monday directed the immediate suspension of Dr. Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, to allow for proper investigation into the alleged diversion of N585 million by the minister.
As conveyed in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the suspended minister was instructed to cooperate fully with investigating authorities while relinquishing her responsibilities to the permanent secretary of the ministry.
Our Correspondent gathered that the minister immediately left her office upon receipt of the suspension letter delivered by an official from the State House.
Security and protocol officers previously assigned to her were also recalled to their headquarters as part of standard operational procedures.
The minister’s office was under lock and key when our correspondent visited the ministry Monday afternoon, with the usual chairs used by her security aides missing from her office corridors.
Staff of the ministry were seen in clusters holding discussions, however, most of them declined commenting on the suspension of the minister.
Edu’s suspension had generated a lot of reactions, with many commending President Tinubu’s decisive action.
Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, FCT Council, Comrade Abe Makanjuola, expressed excitement over Mr. President’s directive, describing it as a right development.
This, he said, is, “because the President is just coming into power, we have one year to assess him fully, and he has started on a very good note.
“The diversion of money is a very bad thing to do by the Minister who has just been appointed and if eventually investigation is concluded, and we find out that it is true, the president has taken the right step in the right direction by suspending her while investigation is still on.
“This is a very good thing to do unlike what we had in the former regime where series of scandals nobody is talking, nobody suspends anybody. Look at the former Minister of Aviation (Hadi Sirika), what of the investigation labeled against him, what has been done? Well, he’s (Sirika) not part of Tinubu’s government presently but it’s still APC government.
“We believe the presidency can still extend that particular long arm of the law to that particular personality and other notable Nigerians who have been involved in the act for that very long time. We hope to see a better things to come in days ahead,” he noted.
On his part, a Federal Civil Servant, Christopher Emmanuel, observed that the issue on the diversion of funds into private accounts is still an allegation.
He said: “It’s an allegation right now until the court says that the woman (Minister) is guilty. But the decision made by Mr. President is a good decision in the right direction because the ministry of Humanitarian has messed up, and there was need for sanity in ministry.
“The ministry is young, so as a result of that and for the record to be set straight, the suspension of Betta Edu is a good thing that could happen in Nigeria. Like before that they will tell the president that they should suspend some ministers that do not perform.
“They will not listen. But this president is a listening president, and this decision is okay by me as a person.”