‘Betty Edu Is Gone From Tinubu’s Administration’ – Presidency

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Sunday, revealed that the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Betta Edu, has officially been relieved of her ministerial assignment.

Onanuga confirmed this on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

He said, “She was suspended in January and this is October. She is gone, officially. Her position has been taken over by the Plateau man.

“As far as this government is concerned, there is no more place for her in this cabinet.”

The presidential spokesman added that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) might have submitted some information that justified her dismissal.

To replace Edu, Tinubu on Thursday appointed Plateau-born Nentawe Yilwatda, a lecturer with the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State.

The President has written the Senate to confirm the appointment of Yilwatda and six others.

Tinubu appointed 48 ministers in August 2023, about three months after he was inaugurated as Nigeria’s president.

He appointed Heineken Lokpobiri as Minister of State, Oil; and appointed Ekperipe Ekpo as Minister of State, Gas, but retained the senior petroleum minister role just like his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.

One of Tinubu’s 48 ministers, Betta Edu, was suspended in January 2024, while another, Simon Lalong, resigned and joined the Senate. Edu was suspended over her alleged involvement in the approval of N585,198,500.00 to be disbursed into a personal account.

The President had directed EFCC boss Ola Olukoyede, “to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions” involving the ministry and “one or more agencies thereunder”.