President Bola Tinubu has instructed Olumuyiwa Enitan, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, to assume supervision of the ministry following Betta Edu’s ministerial suspension.
Following public indignation over the sanction granted by the previous minister of humanitarian affairs for the payment of N585 million into a private account, the President suspended Edu on Monday.
Following the President’s directive, the minister turned over the ministry’s business to the permanent secretary, who received the letter on Monday night.
According to staff members at the humanitarian ministry on Wednesday, a representative from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation delivered the letter to Enitan.
According to a top humanitarian ministry official who begged to remain anonymous because to a lack of authorization, “The permanent secretary has taken over the affairs of the ministry based on the directive of Mr President. He officially got the letter to assume duty on Monday night,”
The official added, “He (permanent secretary) needed to get the letter of authorisation from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation before assuming duties, despite the announcement in the media.”
In a statement on Monday, Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Advisor to the President on Media and Publicity, said that Tinubu had instructed the suspended minister to “hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.”
The President also gave the sidelined minister instructions to fully assist the investigating authorities in their probe.
The group, led by the Finance and Economy Coordinating Minister, was also tasked with performing an extensive examination of the financial structure and framework of the social investment initiatives.