Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo Youth Wing has called on Nigerians to give the suspended minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, the benefit of the doubt until series of investigations into her involvement in the deposit of N585 million public money into a private account have proved she was complicit.
The president, Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo Youth Wing, Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu who stated this while addressing a world press conference in Abuja, yesterday, called for the stoppage of the media trial of the minister.
“As the national youth leader of Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo Youth Wing, I wish to state that there is too much media trial around Dr Edu, which those who wanted her out of favour with the federal government are spinning to her disadvantage.
“Media trial is unfair. An allegation has been levelled against her. President Bola Tinubu has suspended her to allow for transparent and unimpeded investigation. The best thing to do in the circumstance is to allow the process of investigation to conclude instead of bludgeoning her as if she had been found to be complicit.
“There is the need to find what the problem really was about the memo she put up to the Accountant General of the Federation, although the Accountant General had said that she did not honour the payment.
“If that was correct and we also give her (Accountant General) the benefit of the doubt that she would not have lied, then the subject of investigation of the N583 million could as well pale down to the propriety of routing the memo, and perhaps the request for the sum to be paid into a personal account of a Project Accountant.
“That would only be a matter of administrative infelicity and not financial heists since the Accountant General had confirmed that she did not honour the payment,” he said.
Okpalaezeukwu further urged Nigerians to hold their peace during the pendency of the series of investigations, which would either prove or disprove wrongdoing.
He urged President Bola Tinubu to review her suspension and allow her to continue as a member of his cabinet if it is confirmed in the long run that Edu had committed some administrative infractions and not necessarily monetary diversion.
“Betta was entrusted with a Ministry as huge as the Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Poverty Alleviation and everyone can attest to the fact that she remains one of the best in the Tinubu led Government, she may have erred in her modus operandi but we can certainly say that she has not stolen a kobo,” Okpalaezeukwu added.
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