Betta Edu Suffering For Exposing Corruption - Sustainable Movement of Nigeria, SNM

According to Npower News, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been pleaded with to reinstate the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu back into office.

The plea was made by the Sustainable Movement of Nigeria, SNM who also claimed that Betta Edu is being blackmailed and witchunted for exposing corruption in the National social Investment Program Agency (NSIPA).

According to Npower News, the founder of the organisation, and a civil activist Mr. Kayode Arimoro in a press statement on Monday said that Betta Edu’s travails were orchestrated by persons who were culpable in a corruption scandal involving an unapproved transfer of ₦44,800,000,000 in 2023.

According to Mr. Kayode Arimoro the former Cross River Health commissioner, Betta Edu was suspended seven days after she raised alarm and demanded investigation into the financial misappropriation of public funds.

Mr Kayode Arimoro further alleged that regular and new social media were heavily paid to run propaganda for days, internal persons were also planted to pressurize President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend Betta Edu from office.

Highlighting the achievements recorded by Betta Edu while in office, Kayode Arimoro urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reinstate the suspended Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu saying she is being tormented by a large network of prospective beneficiaries of the ₦44,800,000,000 corruption crime.

Kayode Arimoro said; “They made concerted efforts to defame a minister whose passion and policies were focused on the grassroots and who has shown poise and action to weed out corruption and irregularities within the ministry. just to teach her a lesson never to report fraud when she sees one”.

While President Bola Ahmed Tinubu intends to suspend the minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu so that the ministry can be investigated, Kayode Arimoro pointed out that the period concerning the suspended minister was barely four months.

Kayode Arimoro affirmed that the reason for Betta Edu’s suspension was inconsequential given that all the projects she achieved were legally genuine with due approvals.

Kayode Arimoro said; “The said transfer of ₦587,000,000 which she wrote officially to the Accountant General and payments were made from the accountant general office, Given that she followed a laid down regulation from Chapter 14 section (iii) of the Federal Government Financial regulations.

According to Kayode Arimoro the section states clearly that “ in the disbursement of funds for non-personal advance for project/special programs, the leader of the project/special programs shall be the accounting officer, while an accountant of an appropriate grade shall be attached to each project/special programs and have responsibility for the disbursements as well as retirements of the non-personal advances”.

Kayode Arimoro said; “According to these financial regulation guidelines, the so-called private account to which funds were transferred is 3 qualifying accounts, which is managed by the Project accountant and there is evidence to show that the funds reached the intended beneficiaries in different states."

Reminding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the efforts put in by Betta Edu during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Presidential campaigns, Kayode Arimoro stated that the suspended Minister Betta Edu believes strongly in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's eight point agenda aimed at alleviating poverty and combating corruption.

Kayode Arimoro said that Betta Edu remains instrumental to the achievement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed hope agenda;

“This battle must not be lost for the sake of the reputation Dr Edu has built over the years. Getting the ministry’s workings right would have solved Nigeria’s problems by over 70%, with 133,000,000 people living below poverty line and an additional ten million people thrown into poverty between January and April 2024.”

Source: https://sunnewsonline.com/betta-edu-suffering-for-exposing-corruption-says-group/

Npower News: Absence of Betta Edu Escalating Poverty in Nigeria: Kayode Arimoro

According to Npower News, a human rights activists based in the United States of America, Kayode Arimoro, says the absence of Betta Edu, the suspended minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, is escalating the poverty situation in Nigeria.

Mr Kayode Arimoro, a civil rights activists who also doubles as the founder of the Sustainable National Movement (SNM), said this when he addressed journalists in Abuja on Monday 29th April 2024.

According to Npower News, Mr Kayode Arimoro said that millions of vulnerable Nigerian youths who depend on the ministry for Humanitarian Affairs and its programmes which includes Npower to survive were languishing in abject poverty since the suspension of the minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu.

Mr Kayode Arimoro said that the Economic and the Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) could have conducted its investigation without the suspension of the minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu or halting the ministry’s poverty alleviation programmes especially Npower.

“Getting the ministry’s working right would have solved Nigeria’s problems by over 70 per cent, with 133 million people living below poverty line.

“And an additional 10 million people thrown into poverty between January and April 2024 according to World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook for Nigeria: April 2024.

“That was the least deliverable that Edu promised to deliver, and she was all hands on deck from her first day in office,” Mr Kayode Arimoro said.

According to Npower News, Mr Kayode Arimoro said that the minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation travelled across the entire Federation to visit the very poorest at the remotest areas in the country immediately she was appointed.

“Edu had been managing Internally Displaced Persons, disabled and the vulnerable at large.

“It’s little wonder that by the end of December 2023, an international Paper, The Guardian UK, and several organisations rated her as the Best Minister in 2023 after months of sterling performance.

“The young minister was everywhere, both within and outside the country, to campaign with President Bola Tinubu during the elections.

“She believes strongly in Tinubu’s eight-point agenda targeted at reducing poverty and fighting corruption, among other points,” Mr Kayode Arimoro said.

Mr Kayode Arimoro added: “She was diligent enough to expose a N44.8 billion unapproved transfer in December 2023 by the National Social Investment Programme, which is under the supervision of her ministry.

“The President took a positive step in line with his determination to fight corruption by suspending the government official (National Coordinator) involved.

“Little did he know that the large network of prospective beneficiaries from that unapproved transfer, which is part of systemic corruption, would come fighting back with false propaganda to remove the minister at all costs and tarnish her image.”

Mr Kayode Arimoro pleaded with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reinstate the suspended minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu so her good work could continue.

Betta Edu was suspended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in January over alleged misappropriation of public funds.

Source: https://gazettengr.com/absence-of-humanitarian-minister-aggravating-poverty-in-nigeria-activist/

Latest News On Npower Payment To Npower Batch C Beneficiaries

According to Npower News, the National Npower representative said that a lot of Npower beneficiaries have been calling him to translate what was said yesterday in the hausa program, anchored by three prominent people, the Npower representative said that the program is just a hausa version of brekete family with large viewership. The Npower representative said that prior to yesterday's discussions beneficiaries of Npower had already told him to contact Brekete family radio.

According to Npower News, the national representative said that a prominent Barrister based in London together with three other journalist discussed the letter which was submitted to religious clerics, the discussion was that the Federal Government of Nigeria, should know that beneficiaries of Npower are owed ₦270,000 to ₦360,000, and that the Federal Government should make this Npower payment in lump sum, so that beneficiaries of Npower can use this monies to set up a business and become self reliant, the barrister said that the federal government of Nigeria should pay the beneficiaries of Npower since these monies have already been approved.

According to Npower News, in the coming week the spokesperson to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be invited to the program, with beneficiaries of Npower or the National Coordinator of Npower. 

Watch attached video