*Declares nobody will be left out as investigating panel goes to the root of crisis
*Says Tinubu will fix issues of incompetence
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
The Presidency, yesterday, said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration would not spare any individual found culpable in the ongoing investigation into the alleged fraud in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and its Social Investment Programmes.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, made this disclosure when he spoke on a national television programme.
Shedding more light on the on-going probe, Ngelale said, “The President has given full instruction to the EFCC chairman to not only conduct a thorough investigation.
“The way the president would direct such an investigation is to say that nobody, no name, should be left out if they are found wanting in the situation. No sacred cows at all.
“Anywhere this investigation takes the EFCC and other investigating authorities. That is where the investigation must go and the president will take action accordingly.”
The presidential spokesperson added that the president had “since made it clear to all members of his administration, that he would not tolerate any form of indiscipline, corruption, dereliction of duty or any other form of incompetence.
“President Tinubu is going to let time go by. If he fully understands that somebody is not up to the task, he will fix the problem and fix it as quickly as possible,” he added.
While suspending the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation on January 7, President Tinubu had directed the Chairman of EFCC to “conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions involving the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, as well as one or more agencies thereunder.”
He also tasked the ministerial panel headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, to, among other functions, “conduct a comprehensive diagnostic on the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes to conclusively reform of the NSIPA, and relevant institutions and programmes in a determined bid to eliminate all institutional frailties for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households and win back lost public confidence in the initiative.”
A presidency source re-echoed the importance of the investigation saying, “this much deeper look into all aspects of the operations of the programme.”
Edu became the focal point of Nigerians’ ire after a leaked memo on December 20 revealed that she allegedly directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer N585 million to a private account owned by one Oniyelu Bridget, who the ministry claimed currently serves as the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups.
In a statement signed on January 6, 2024 by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris, the federal government affirmed that it is “determined to unravel the truth as it relates to this matter,” promising that, “appropriate action will be taken to ensure that any breaches and infractions were identified and decisively punished.”
On January 12, days after suspending Edu, the president also suspended all Social Investment Programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programme Agency, including the school-feeding programme, for six weeks.
A day later, he approved the establishment of a Special Presidential Panel to be led by Mr Wale Edun.
The SPP, comprised of ministers representing strategic sectors and would ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to the reform effort, included the coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance as Chairman, and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate as member.
Other members were the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris; Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijjani; and the Minister of State for Youth, Ayodele Olawande.
Meanwhile, the presidential spokesman has clarified that the speculations of a possible cabinet reshuffling by the president would have to wait until the ongoing investigations had provided conclusive ends.
Some media outlets had in the wake of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs’ blow out, as well as the suspension of the National Social Investment Programmes Agency’s (NSIPA) activities, following allegations of financial impropriety, reported purported cabinet reshuffling soon.
But Ajuri, while reacting, said, “At this point, it is in the realm of speculation. What is not in the realm of speculation, however, is that the President has ordered a thorough investigation. And wherever that investigation takes him, he will act accordingly.
“I do think that the president would not make such a move until he has a clear idea of exactly what that investigation has unearthed and whether or not there are other officials of the government that he feels would need to be roped into such an exercise on the basis of whatever the findings of that investigation are,” he said.
Furthermore, Ngelale said, “It is only natural to drive such stories, particularly if there’s even a whisper that such a thing could occur.
“But I think it’s important that we do not preempt the activities of the president. The president is fully aware of all factors related to what people are doing and not doing within his administration.
“He does have a special adviser on policy and coordination in the person of Hadiza Bala-Usman, who is also monitoring the activities of the MDAs with respect to performance-related issues, and he has all of that information at any point in time,” he said.
