Despite Corruption Trial, Edu, Olejeme Get Key Roles In APC’s 2027 Campaign Council

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has come under scrutiny after unveiling its 2027 presidential campaign council with two politically prominent women trailed by unresolved corruption allegations, Betta Edu, former minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, and Ngozi Olejeme, former chairperson of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

The council, announced in Abuja yesterday, is headed by Senator Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara West Senatorial district as director-general, with Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma serving as secretary. Edu, listed at number 97 on the roster, was appointed director of women’s mobilisation, while Olejeme, at number 37, was named south-south zonal director for election planning, coordination and mobilisation.

Their inclusion has revived attention on scandals that once forced both women out of public office. Edu was suspended by President Bola Tinubu in January 2024 after a leaked memo showed she had instructed

Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant-general of the federation, to transfer N585 million into a private account. The revelation prompted Tinubu to order an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigation into the humanitarian affairs ministry and led to a six-week suspension of all programmes run by the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA).

Edu was subsequently questioned at EFCC headquarters in Abuja, and in April 2024 the commission announced it had recovered N30 billion linked to the ministry, with 50 bank accounts flagged for further investigation. She was formally replaced as minister in October 2024, when Tinubu named Nentawe Yilwatda, now APC national chairman , to the position.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga later confirmed her exit from the cabinet, declaring bluntly that “there is no longer a place for her in that cabinet.”

Despite the scale of the allegations, the EFCC has yet to release the findings of its probe.

Olejeme’s history with the anti-graft agency runs deeper still. She was declared wanted by the EFCC in September 2017 over allegations of criminal conspiracy, abuse of office and diversion of N69 billion in public funds.

In July 2020, a federal high court in Abuja ordered the interim forfeiture of 48 properties allegedly linked to her, and in October 2021 she was arraigned on a nine-count charge before a Federal Capital Territory high court.

More recently, in October 2025, the EFCC arraigned Olejeme before a federal high court in Abuja on an eight-count charge of money laundering, accusing her of converting, transferring and taking possession of roughly N1 billion in proceeds from unlawful activity allegedly diverted from NSITF between 2012 and 2015, during her tenure as board chairperson.

She pleaded not guilty, and EFCC counsel Emenike Mgbemele told the court the prosecution intended to call 14 witnesses. Presiding judge Emeka Nwite released her to her counsel and adjourned the matter to November 17 for hearing of her bail application. As of this report, the outcome of that hearing and the current status of the case remain unclear.

The appointments place two women with substantial, largely unresolved corruption files at the center of the ruling party’s electoral machinery ahead of 2027 , a decision likely to fuel criticism from anti-corruption campaigners and opposition parties over the APC’s vetting standards, even as the EFCC’s investigations into both women continue to languish without public resolution.