For those who are doubtful of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s capacity to fight corruption, he proved them wrong on Monday when he ordered the suspension of Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Betta Chimaobim Edu, over what is gradually turning out to be a prologue to the endemic corruption in a ministry that was established by President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2019 to provide succour to the vulnerable caught in the web of insecurity and cascading poverty.
Before the suspension of Edu, an online report over an alleged fraud of N37 billion in the Humanitarian Affairs ministry had gained traction on several social media platforms, with the former minister, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, dismissing the report as the imaginary handwork of jobless mischief makers. I knew the clouds were about gathering and would soon result in a downpour.
The heavy downpour this week has led to the invitation of both Farouk and Edu, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). They were unwilling guests of the anti-graft agency to clarify and throw light on how they managed N2.8 trillion allocated to the ministry since 2019. At the end of their grilling sessions, they were requested to surrender their travel documents.
The EFCC’s invitation on both former ministers came on the heels of the detention of the Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, (NSIPA), Hajiya Halima Shehu, accused of transferring whopping sums of money to different accounts. Before midweek, the EFCC was able to facilitate the recovery of over N40 billion to the public coffer. While Shehu is still the guest of the anti-graft agency, the rot playing out in the ministry mandated to help the poor is still a subject of forensic investigations.
Rumbles over N585m transfer
The APC Governors’ Forum has cautioned Nigerians not to be conclusive on the fate of Edu, as the allegations of misconduct swirling around are not yet proven. The office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) has denied approving the request by Edu to transfer the sum of N585 million into a private account. Also, various sums of money, running into billions of naira, have been allocated to firms for the planned monthly transfer of N8,000 to 15 million vulnerable Nigerians. How the ministry arrived at the list is still contentious which only a probe can unveil.
An act of wrongdoing is an encouragement for lawlessness and violation of the due process. If the late Senator Chuba Okadigbo and Rt Hon Patricia Etteh were impeached from their positions as President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively, over anticipatory approvals deemed to have been obtained under questionable circumstances, then, there is no way the former ministers and other collaborating agents can escape the long arm of the law. That over N40 billion has so far been retrieved from NSIPA accounts only goes to show that it is dangerous not to pay close attention to the activities of those mandated with the responsibility of helping the poor. In trying to help the poor, they find willing partners in rogue bankers to cheat the defenseless and undermine the well-intended objectives of the government.
Edu and APC govs
Contrary to what the governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would want citizens to believe, there is every cause for apprehension over the management of national resources by appointees. That some of the governors have frontally aligned with Edu only justifies the caution expressed in the culpability of politicians in a corrupt-ridden system: “Never believe anything until it is doubted”. Some of these governors should be reminded that “birds of the feather flock together”.
What has numbed Nigeria’s journey to greatness is corruption through the violent rape of resources for personal greed. Much as our country is blessed with natural endowments and enormous human resources, leadership has continued to dim the bright prospect for growth and lowered citizens’ expectations into an irredeemable hole of hopelessness. When criminals go unpunished, and the long arm of law shortened for the offender to escape justice, the society suffers irreversibly. That is why leadership finds it a staggering task to rid society of criminals.
Tinubu’s hushed war against graft
President Tinubu’s suspension of the Minister and probe of both ministers should be welcomed. This action should serve as a prologue that government’s money is not money to be spent without rules. The treasury is not for appointees to mess with. Tinubu’s muted war against corruption is reflective of the reality that those who personalise the national treasury should be prepared to face the consequences.
Let nobody make a mistake to think that the battle against fraud will turn out to be a walk in the park. Without citizenry support, backed by a strong institutional framework, realising the dream of overcoming the strong walls of corruption overshadowing our growth shall continue to be a mirage. President Tinubu did not declare an open war against corruption like his predecessor in 2015, but he has not left anyone in doubt that the days of swindling our common patrimony are over. It is for critical stakeholders in the Nigerian democracy, especially federal and state lawmakers, to support the current administration to disarm corrupt elements from further inflicting harm on efforts to salvage what is left of the nation.
