Deji Adeyanju, an Abuja-based rights activist and constitutional lawyer, has urged President Bola Tinubu to suspend the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan.
He said Enitan and all directors in the ministry should be sacked to pave the way for a holistic investigation.
Tinubu had handed over the ministry to Enitan following the suspension of the Minister in charge, Betta Edu, over her involvement in financial misappropriation.
Documents had indicted Edu of approving the payment of N585 million in social intervention funds into the private account of a civil servant.
Following the disclosure, Tinubu suspended Edu while ordering the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate the scandal thoroughly.
However, Adeyanju faulted Tinubu’s decision to hand over the ministry to Enitan because he might be aware of the corrupt practices carried out in the ministry.
The statement reads: “While politicians come and go, the permanent secretary is always there until he or she resigns.
“It is, therefore, highly unlikely that the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs was unaware of the corrupt practices that was going on in that ministry. The permanent secretary ranks only next to the Minister. How were these monies moved to private accounts without the knowledge of Mr. Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, the permanent secretary?
“Whose duty was it to bring the minister abreast with the various civil service rules aimed at prohibiting corrupt practices? Can the permanent secretary truly deny knowledge of the sleaze that went down in that ministry or is it a case of several person dipping their hands into the public purse but only the person who was caught is called the thief?
“It is in the light of the foregoing that the decision by Mr. President to hand over the running of the ministry to the permanent secretary is, in my opinion, ill-advised. For a holistic investigation to be carried out in that ministry, as directed by Mr. President, the permanent secretary and all the directors must equally be suspended to determine their culpability if any, in what has become a national embarrassment.
“The president is, therefore, urged to hand over the affairs of the ministry to any other permanent secretary in any other ministry, but not the present permanent secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.”
