TheCable

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited Betta Edu, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, to its headquarters for investigation.

A source within the EFCC source confirmed to TheCable that Edu has been invited to appear before the commission “as soon as possible”.

“The government has directed us to investigate her over the N585 million scandal and so we will do that,” the source said.

Earlier on Monday, President Bola Tinubu had suspended Edu as minister after a memo surfaced wherein she asked Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant-general of the federation, to transfer the sum of N585 million to a private account.

The instruction for the payment was contained in a leaked letter dated December 20, 2023.

In the letter signed by the minister and titled: “Mandate for Payment of Grant for Vulnerable Groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Lagos and Ogun States Respectively”, Edu instructed the accountant-general to transfer the aforementioned amount to the UBA account of one Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.

The minister had said the payment instruction followed due process, even though the accountant-general of the federation said she did not carry out the minister’s request because no bulk money “is supposed to be made to an individual’s account in the name of Project Accountant”.

Edu had also approved the payment of flight fare for staff to Kogi, even though the north-central state has no airport to its name.

Alongside the suspension, Tinubu had also directed the EFCC “to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transaction” involving Edu’s ministry.

Ola Olukoyede, the commission’s chairman, was said to have recommended the suspension of the minister to the president.