Dr. Betta Edu
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu has distanced herself from the ongoing N44.8 billion fraud in National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
A statement on Thursday signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Minister, Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, said the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation notes with dismay, on a memo from the Ministry to the Accountant-General of the Federation approving for payment, of the sum of N585,189,500.00 Renewed Hope Grant for Vulnerable Groups for four states, which is currently being circulated in the social media.
The statement said “it is glaring that the same sponsored disgruntled elements in the past few days have been trying to smear the Honourable Minister, Dr. Betta Edu, and stain her integrity because she drew the Federal Government’s attention to the ongoing N44.8 billion fraud in the NSIPA.
“These elements have been trying to link her to a phantom fraud and are behind this latest misadventure”.
However, this latest vile effort of theirs according to the statement “is another infantile blackmail doomed for evisceration”.
For avoidance of doubt, the said N585,198,500.00 was approved for GVGs in four states and it went through due process and Oniyelu Bridget is the Project Accountant for GVG.
The Ministry explained that “the fund was meant for the implementation of GVGs in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos States. We must, however, note that GVG was first launched in Kogi State where all recipients testified.
“Akwa Ibom and Cross River were launched in December 2023, Kogi already happened in November, and others will be launched in the coming weeks”.
The general public is invited to note that the Renewed Hope Grant for Vulnerable Groups is one of the social intervention schemes of the federal government, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
The statement said “the evil motive of the mischief-makers behind the circulation of the memo is well-known and should be ignored”.
Of note is the fact that since assumption of duty about Five months ago, the Minister has religiously visited different parts of the country like Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Kogi, Plateau, Nasarawa, FCT, Lagos Cross River, etc and this is done to ensure she delivers on her mandate and she has remained focused, unbiased and committed to duty, the statement said.
