Cabinet reshuffle: Betta Edu fails to make comeback, Tinubu appoints Nentawe Yilwatda as replacement

Betta Edu, the suspended minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, has been excluded from President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.

On Wednesday, the president named Nentawe Yilwatda as Edu’s replacement in a major cabinet reshuffle.

Yilwatda’s appointment ended speculations about Edu’s fate as a cabinet member.

During the weekly federal executive council (FEC) meeting, Tinubu sacked five ministers, appointed seven new ones, and reassigned 10 others with new portfolios.

The newly appointed ministers will face the senate for screening and confirmation.

On January 8, Tinubu suspended Edu as minister after a memo surfaced wherein she asked Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant-general of the federation, to transfer N585 million to a private account.

The president also asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the financial transactions of the humanitarian ministry.

Days before the suspension of Edu, the president had suspended Halima Shehu as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) over an alleged financial malfeasance.

After she was suspended, the former minister was grilled at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Subsequently, the president suspended all programmes administered by NSIPA for six weeks as part of the probe into alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its activities.

In April, the EFCC said it recovered N30 billion from the investigation involving Edu, adding that 50 bank accounts were under probe.

There were calls in some quarters appealing to the president to reconsider and recall Edu.