Betta Edu: Tinubu Should Also Suspend INEC Chairman, Others

The current fall guy of our fight against corruption is Dr. Betta Edu, the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. Almost everybody is throwing stones at her. The sin she committed was that she allegedly diverted public funds amounting to over N585 million into the personal bank account of the accountant for the Grants for Vulnerable Groups initiative, Bridget Oniyelu. The money was for the implementation of grants to vulnerable groups.

President Bola Tinubu acted swiftly in this particular case. He suspended Edu (37), the youngest minister in his cabinet, and asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to thoroughly investigate her and the goings-on at the Humanitarian Affairs ministry. Penultimate Saturday, the President set up a Special Presidential Panel on social investment programmes. The panel, led by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, will undertake a comprehensive review and audit of existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of the social investment programmes.

The President deserves commendation for his prompt action. If our leaders have been taking this type of action, corruption would have been roundly defeated in Nigeria.

Nevertheless, was the president sincere in his suspension of Edu or was he just playing to the gallery? The answer lies in how he handles other past and present corruption issues. He who goes to equity must go with clean hands. The starting point should be the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu. The root of corruption in any democracy is flawed electoral process. When candidates who are not the choice of the people are rigged into office, they owe nobody any allegiance. And because they spent a lot of money to snatch and grab victory, they concentrate on recouping what they spent to grab power. This trickles down to their appointees who might have also spent money to lobby for the appointment.

The 2023 general election was greatly flawed. From the presidential election down to governorship and assembly elections, the rigging was such that a great number of citizens became frustrated and dejected with our brand of democracy. I don’t need to recount what transpired during and after the elections. It has been well documented in various accounts by both local and foreign observers, including the media. The sore point in all this was that INEC, which should have moderated the process and called the riggers to order, joined in the fray.

This is why I suggest that the cleansing should start from the electoral umpire. Once we get our electoral system right, every other thing will fall in line. If the man on top of the palm tree will not pollute the air, the flies will never get confused. Effective and accountable leadership is the key to solving our numerous problems. Once the number one authority in the country has character, integrity, and competence, his appointees will think twice before committing any cardinal sin.

How many of those parading the corridors of power today have competence? How many have character and integrity? How many presented genuine school and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates? Or is presenting fake certificates not corruption? Is rigging election and compromising the judiciary not corruption? Sincerely speaking, unless we institute serious electoral and political reforms; unless we radically reform our institutions to make it possible to reward competence and expose and punish corruption, we are going nowhere as a country.

Thank God that the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, insisted that Edu was doing the wrong thing by paying public funds into a personal bank account. It takes strong measures like that to have strong institutions. If she had played ball with Edu, perhaps, we might not have known what had transpired.

The Humanitarian Affairs Ministry stinks. In 2019, former First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, had cause to lambast the National Social Intervention Programme (NSIP) of that ministry. She alleged that the National Social Investment Office spent $16 million in buying mosquito nets which did not get to her village in Adamawa. The National Assembly then called the exercise a scam. Even the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), in 2020, alleged that the sum of N2.67 billion meant for school feeding during the COVID 19 lockdown was diverted into personal accounts.

Good enough, the EFCC is doing some investigations now. Edu’s predecessor in office, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouk, is also under investigations for alleged N37.1 billion fraud during her tenure. Like Edu, she has denied any wrongdoing. Also under investigation is Halima Shehu, the suspended National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), an agency being supervised by the Humanitarian Affairs ministry. The onus is on the EFCC to do a thorough job and either exonerate or prosecute the suspects if found culpable.

The Humanitarian Affairs Ministry may not be alone in the efforts of some ministries, departments and agencies of government to engage in undue stealing of our national resources. By the way, what is this talk about the Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, allegedly taking a bite from Edu’s cake? A firm linked to the minister, New Planet Project Limited, allegedly received a substantial sum of money called ‘consultancy fees’ from the Humanitarian Affairs ministry. Tunji-Ojo said he was not part of the cake sharing; that he resigned his directorship of the company since 2019. He may no longer be a director in this company which he co-founded with his wife 15 years ago. But he remains a shareholder. Hence, he is still connected with the company. He should be suspended while the EFCC also probes him thoroughly. There are some other allegations against the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. A leaked memo from his office dated December 18, 2023, indicated that Tinubu had approved N3bn from the COVID-19 Palliative Fund for verification of the National Social Register. I don’t believe this. But then, Gbajabiamila too deserves to be probed to ascertain his innocence.

If we are able to tackle corruption which manifests in different ways in Nigeria, we would have gone a long way to solve more than half of our problems as a country. Can the current administration do it? Will President Tinubu wear the cloak of a statesman and sanitize the entire Nigerian system? The answer is blowing in the wind.

Good night, Chisom

The death of any individual reminds us of the ephemerality and vanity of life. Miss Chisom Nwankwo was just 25 years. She hailed from Isuofia in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, and was the little bride at my wedding 23 years ago. As a final-year student of Agricultural Economics at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife, she looked forward to her graduation with great hopes.

The late Chisom

Unfortunately, on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the news broke that a final-year student of OAU was dead. I read it like every other person, not knowing that the deceased was someone close to me. I was jolted when a relative of mine called to inform me that it was our own Chisom. She died after an accident on a commercial bike popularly called Okada on campus.

As she was being lowered to the grave on Saturday, January 13, 2024, I battled to prevent tears from flowing down my cheeks. Her mother, a widow, is still distraught and inconsolable. God, we cannot question you. Only you know why you took Chisom in the bloom of her life. May her soul rest in peace and may God give her mother, Ngozi, and siblings: Obinna, Lotanna, and Ebube the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. Good night Chisom until we meet to part no more!

Re: Great Expectations for 2024

Casmir, happy New Year. The frustration in the country is much. This is shown in different ways such as resurgence of unknown gunmen, Fulani herdsmen attacks, high cost of living and unprecedented signs of poverty. Government requires a great willpower in order to turn around the economy and social status of the country. Government should decentralize petroleum refinery by empowering more companies to embark on it. Government should also decentralize electricity be it generations or distributions. Police should also be decentralized to provide enough security nationwide. Restructuring will be game changer for this administration as each entity develops on its own pace and creates an aggressive opportunities in different sectors of the economy. The idea of touring the world with the scarce resources is obviously self-deceit as the world is now a global village and knows which country is safe for investment opportunities.

-Pharmacist Okwuchukwu Njike, +234 803 885 4922

His mercies that we were not consumed as a nation; we give thanks onto the kings of kings and the lord of lords for taking us through the valley of the shadow of death via the turbulent elections, naira redesign, cashless policy brouhaha, unexpected/untimely removal of fuel subsidy, unification of foreign exchange markets that led to further devaluation of the naira. Although we were scathed but we still managed to scale through. Some nations experienced just half of what we went through and were consumed! It is not of nations that willeth, nor of nations that runneth but it is of God that showeth mercy. May God show Nigeria mercy! Amen! God shall bypass Tinubu’s deceitfulness, arrogance and general incompetence. Amen! Your word says if we seek you we shall find you! Let Nigeria find you lord! Amen!

-Mike, Mushin, 0816 111 4572