A FEW years ago, these questions were asked in the media: ‘Who’s Dr Betta Edu’? ‘Who’s Halima Shehu’, and Who’s Sadiya Umar-Farouq? What are their pedigrees? Perhaps these questions were asked out of curiousity, especially when someone’s name emerges into public view like a silent mystery. Truth is, until 2015 when a young, pretty medical doctor, named Betta emerged as the youngest person to be appointed by Gov Ben Ayade of Cross River state as Special Assistant on Community and Primary Healthcare. Not long after, she became the state Commissioner for Health. Before meteoric rise, she was, in a manner of speaking, an ‘unknown quantity’.
The same with Halima Shehu when she was appointed as Special Adviser in 2011 by the then Governor of Katsina state, Ibrahim Shema.
Perhaps the appointment of Sadiya Umar-Farouq by former President Muhammadu Buhari, attracted the most public attention. Her appointment also came with some measure of controversy that almost ruffled feathers in the family of the country’s number one citizen. Was she about to become the former President’s second wife or mistress? The rumour mill buzzed. But it turned out to be full of sound and fury. All these three women have certain things in common. In advertising parlance, they have Unique Selling Points. Apparently, you can judge a book by its cover. They are stunningly beautiful, stylish, and for besotted men, irresistible. Before you start to imagine that every woman in politics is a supermodel, let’s get this straight: A study by Darmouth College, USA, published by TIME Magazine in 2014, revealed that for some young women in politics, factors such as intelligence, brain, pedigree and money, do not always count that much. Prettiness, the study says, is a strong determining factor for these young women to get noticed and appointed into juicy offices.
Forget about being smart, a gift of oratory or fashion, the odds favour the pretty, the study noted. That was how the trio of Betta, Halima and Sadiya, became rising stars and undimmed appeal to those in power. They did so by cozying up to, and impressing powerful and influential people in government. For Dr Betta, for example, her stars began to shine through her friendship with Ben Ayade’s wife, Linda, a medical colleague. While Linda graduated from the University of Port Harcourt, a classmate of my cousin’s wife, Betta graduated from the University of Calabar. A glitzy party to herald the swearing in of Gov Ayade’s first term in office, brought the two brilliant women even closer.
If you were familiar with what Cross River state was like during Prof Ayade’s tenure, Calabar was always aglitter anytime the first family organised a party at Government House. You know why? Even single girls scramble to gatecrash in the expectation that ‘lightning will strike’. It is the hope that their dream husband could be among the special guests at the party. Those familiar with such swanky parties said Dr Betta Edu’s gift of presence was very compelling. She stood out in a crowd. Many eyes were on always on her. If you were close to her, you would notice she has a warm hand. Some men could melt when she looks into their eyes(no puns intended). That’s the cadence, the Midas touch that has carried her thus far.
And before her appointment as Minister, she did a lot for Tinubu during last year’s presidential campaigns. Some of the things she did were sub rosa, behind the scene. It was no surprise she became the women leader of the All Progressives Congress. Not anymore. These three women – Betta, Halima and Sadiya, have become force field of nightmares to the Tinubu administration. Since this revolving door of corruption broke out, has anyone bothered to ask, why, for instance, did Sadiya’s claim that she spent a whooping N5.9bn as Humanitarian Affairs Minister, to train 177 youths to repair phones, not to manufacture phones, and nobody asked questions, not even the former President? The amount translates to N33.3 million on each apprentice.
This excludes the billions of naira she claimed the ministry spent on school feeding programme during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. The former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission( ICPC), Bolaji Owasonaye had stated at the time that the agency found the diversion of N2.5bn into private accounts by a senior civil servant, arising from the purported feeding programme. He declined to name the civil servant(now said to have died). And, again, you ask: what exactly led these three women into these damaging, dysfunctional patterns of behaviour? Whatever becomes their fate at the end of the current investigations, certainly, they will have no one to blame but themselves.
Perhaps a dig into the hole that led to the downfall of Betta Edu is a lesson for young women in the greasy pole of Nigeria’s politics. The hard lesson is: Don’t be Icarus. It’s a cautionary tale about the dangers of ambition or lack of moderation. The heat of the sun has melted the wax on Betta’s wings and she has plunged into the sea, and drowned. But she must not go down alone. There are others who are vicariously liable in the index of corruption hanging over her neck that resulted in her suspension from office. Her removal as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, looms in the horizon. There should be no tears for her. Did she act alone or in concert in that leaked memo dated December 20, in which she directed the Accountant General of the Federation Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer a hefty amount of N585million into a private account of one Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola? Ms. Oniyelu is said to be a project accountant/consultant for the vulnerable groups scheme.
The amount was said to be for vulnerable people in Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Cross River and Ogun state under the federal government Poverty Intervention payment grants. President Tinubu has disbanded the programme and set up a committee headed by the Minister of Finance,Wale Edun , for an inquest into the scheme. The question is: was Betta Edu bewitched or oblivious of the extant public financial regulations of 2009, which prohibits the payment of public funds into private account of an individual? Or is her problem that of “whom the gods wish to destroy, they first made mad”? I can’t believe how such a smart and brilliant woman could dig such a big hole for herself. It also finds expression in the classic Greek tag of when divine anger desires to ruin a man or woman, it first takes away their good sense, that ability to rationalise things before they embark on self-destructive action that has obvious consequences. Specifically, section 713 of the public financial regulations, states that, personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account. Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention. Very soon, the EFCC will submit its report to the President.
Nobody should be shielded or spared in the ongoing probe. The scandal may be Betta Edu’s banana peel, but it is a tinderbox in Tinubu’s Cabinet, far beyond what is already in the public space. The Minister of Interior, Dr. Tunji Olubunmi-Ojo, and the Chief of staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, also have serious questions to answer in the scandal. Mr Ojo has since admitted that he owns substantial shares in New Project Ltd, a company that received N438 million consultancy fees from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs last year, for a Social Register Project. The minister is still listed as Director in the company. He insists he had resigned from the company in 2019 after he was elected to the House of Representatives from his home state of Ondo. This is against public service regulations. On his part, the CoS who has been quizzed by the EFCC, is alleged to have approved for Betta Edu to take N3bn from the COVID palliative fund for the verification of the National Social Register.
The President Tinubu also has some explaining to give on how he approved the amount for the Verification of the Social Register. The letter to that effect is contained in a memo marked, “SH/CoS/145/A/220, dated September 18, 2023. The CoS is reported to have said that the amount has been granted on behalf of the President. The President must clear his name and use this scandal as a litmus test to cleanse the Aegean stable that has already worsened public perception of his underperforming administration. The EFCC searchlight should also be beamed on the Accountant General of the Federation Oluwatoyin Madein about all she knows regarding the N585million scandal. Bettagate(as this scandal is called by a section of the media), may have triggered reforms in federal government’s intervention programmes, but failure to tackle the monumental fraud that has become public knowledge in the 8 months of Tinubu presidency, by sacking all those directly and indirectly implicated in the scandal, will worsen global perception of corruption in Nigeria.
It is unfortunate, disheartening and unacceptable that the poor has become an excuse to loot the treasury. Corruption persists when there are no consequences against those who have committed such offences. Statistics show that the amount stolen by public officials and businessmen in the last days of Buhari government, as well as the 7 months of Tinubu presidency, is about a quarter of 2022 national budget. It is a big shame that the looting of the nation’s treasury has continued in spite of the various laws in the Criminal and Penal codes and efforts by the EFCC and ICPC to check the high cost of official corruption in the country. Nigerians and potential foreign investors are watching closely what Tinubu will make of the firestorm in his presidential plate, that is, the Bettagate and the revolving door of corruption swirling around the Tinubu government.