Northern Groups Defend Gbajabiamila On N3bn Social Register Verification

The Northern Ethnic Group Assembly (NEYGA) has risen in defence of the chief of staff to the president, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, over the alleged N3 billion COVID-19 fund approved for the verification of the national social register.

NEYGA spokesperson, Ibrahim Dan-Musa, said indications had emerged that some hawks within and outside the Presidential Villa, who are scheming to take over the job of Gbajabiamila, have hatched a plot to link him with the transactions carried out by the suspended minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Betta Edu.

Another anti-corruption group made up of youths in northern Nigeria, Arewa Citizens Against Corruption also warned against unnecessary commentaries against Gbajabiamila over the scandal rocking the ministry.

The group warned that such “unholy dragging” and “illicit media trial” of Gbajabiamila over the alleged approval of N3 billion for the humanitarian ministry to prosecute its social mandate, was unnecessary and capable of distracting the smooth operations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government.

Memos have continued to leak from the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry and its agencies, following the suspension of Edu, who is being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

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Recall that a leaked memo dated December 18, 2023, from the Office of Chief of Staff to the President revealed that President Bola Tinubu had approved N3 billion from the COVID-19 Palliative Fund for verification of the National Social Register.

But Dan-Musa in a statement shared with journalists said “distractors have failed in your plot against the engine rooms of Tinubu administration”.

According to the group, the latest memo that came out was just an attempt by some persons within and outside the Villa to tie Gbajabiamila to the Betta Edu investigation.

He said: “This is a time for the government to settle down,” commending the president for suspending Betta Edu and questioning those attempting to implicate Gbajabiamila in a letter of approval.

Arewa Citizens Against Corruption, in a statement made available to newsmen yesterday and signed by Comrade Hussein Babangida, its national president, passed a vote of confidence on Gbajabiamila, saying, “we in the north are happy with the level of support he has provided to Mr. President” and “the dexterity with which he has carried out his functions as the Chief of Staff to Mr. President which has translated maximally to the good of the generality of the Nigeria’s citizenry”.

The group said, “President Tinubu is a man given to a high sense of integrity, laced with a high taste of transparency and accountability and we are sure he would not leave any stone unturned in his fight against corruption, even if it involves members of his household.

“Nigerians have seen the speed with which he suspended the NSIPA national coordinator and how he swiftly suspended the minister of humanitarian affairs and caused a holistic probe into their activities, while instituting many committees to reform the ministry and its programmes,” he said.

“What else do these people want from the President? Why wouldn’t they wait until the various panels and the anti-graft agencies investigating the matter invite whoever that deserves to give testimony in their course of investigations?” the group said.

The group also advised those who are in that train to pay solid attention to the testimonies of some officials of the Humanitarian Ministry, whereby, they asserted that the suspended minister, Dr. Betta Edu followed due process and did not violate the modern administrative procedures in transferring fund meant for a project to an assistant director’s account for execution.