News

N585m: Betta Edu Prevented From Meeting Tinubu, Villa Access Card Withdrawn

Published

2 years ago

January 8, 2024

The suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, was on Monday denied access to see President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

A statement announcing Edu’s suspension was released just as she was within the President’s office complex waiting for access to see him.

However, she was denied access.

Although a source said security detail and official vehicles, in which she rode to the Villa, were withdrawn, our correspondent could not confirm this.

But The PUNCH confirmed that her Villa Access Card was withdrawn.

A source in the Presidency who spoke to The PUNCH correspondent on condition of anonymity said Edu had been trying to see the President without success since January 1, 2024, a day before news broke about the suspension of the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, Halima Shehu, on January 2, 2024.

The source said, “She was here (Villa) just before the statement was released. She has been trying to see the President since New Year day when he returned.

“The President is not happy about the whole thing. In fact, more may be coming because he will not tolerate anything like this.

“So, as soon as the statement came out, the cars that brought her were withdrawn immediately and they assigned two security men to see her out. Her tag was also collected.”

According to a video footage spotted on TVC News, Edu was ferried out of the admin foyer of the Villa in a black Toyota Hilux van belonging to State House security.

Another source who spoke to The PUNCH said, “The SUV shown in the TVC footage was not for Edu but for a state governor who just arrived the premises. The car was simply turning to park somewhere. She was taken out of the Villa in the black Hilux.”

Edu’s suspension followed widespread criticism after a leaked memo on December 20 revealed that she directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer N585m to a private account owned by one Oniyelu Bridget.

The ministry had claimed that Oniyelu currently serves as the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups.

The President also directed the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olu Olukoyede, to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions involving the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, as well as one or more agencies thereunder.

“In line with his avowed commitment to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in the management of the commonwealth of Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu suspends the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, from office with immediate effect,” a statement signed by the Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, read Monday.

The statement is titled ‘President Tinubu suspends Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation from office.’

Ngelale added, “The suspended Minister is hereby directed to hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and she is further directed by the President to fully cooperate with the investigating authorities as they conduct their investigation.”

Furthermore, the President tasked a panel headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance to, among other functions, “conduct a comprehensive diagnostic on the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes with a view to conclusively reforming the relevant institutions and programmes in a determined bid to eliminate all institutional frailties for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households and win back lost public confidence in the initiative.”

The development comes just as ministers prepare for their first performance assessment by the end of January.

News

Lagos LG Poll: Fashola Absent At Polling Unit

Published

2 minutes ago

July 12, 2025

Editor

A former Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola, was absent at his polling unit on Saturday, to vote for his party’s candidate for the Chairmanship and Councillorship election

Fashola, who was expected at the polling unit with the wife, Mrs Abimbola Fashola, was not seen throughout the election, which started at 8.00 a.m. and ended at 3.00 p.m.

NAN recalled that Fashola was also absent during the 2021 local government election.

Journalists, who waited for the former Minister of Power, Works and Housing, from 8.19 a.m. when the election at the unit started, left for other places after hours of waiting, while some stayed till the end on the possibility of him coming.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that voting for the Chairmanship and Councillorship election in Polling Unit 002, at State Junior Grammar School (Special), Itolo Street, Eric Moore, Surulere, started at 8.19 a.m, as at the time the INEC agents arrived to set up the unit.

The unit, which is the venue where Fashola was expected to cast his vote, saw eligible voters trickling in.

The unit which had 1,355 registered voters, recorded only 213 voters who came to exercise their franchise.
(NAN)

News

Swiatek Beats Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 To Win Historic Wimbledon Title

Published

13 minutes ago

July 12, 2025

Editor

Iga Swiatek demolished Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the most one-sided women’s Wimbledon final for 114 years to win her sixth Grand Slam title.

The Polish eighth seed was in charge from the first point and wrapped up victory in just 57 minutes in a brutal display of precision hitting on Centre Court.

It is the first time a woman has won a final at Wimbledon without dropping a game since 1911, when Britain’s Dorothea Lambert Chambers triumphed by the same scoreline.

And Swiatek, 24, is just the second player in the Open era to win a major without losing a game in the final since Steffi Graf humbled Natalia Zvereva at the 1988 French Open.

“It seems super surreal,” said Swiatek, who is the first Wimbledon singles champion from Poland and has now won majors on all surfaces.

“I didn’t even dream, for me it was way too far. I feel like I am already an experienced player after winning the Slams before but I never expected this one.

“This year I really, really enjoyed it and feel I improved my form here.

“I am always going to remember the opening of champagne bottles between serves. It is a sound that will keep me awake at night.”

Swiatek lost just one set during the entire tournament as she won her first trophy on grass, two weeks after reaching the final of the grass-court event at Bad Homburg.

US 13th seed Anisimova was expected to prove a stern test after ousting world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, but Swiatek performed a demolition job.

Anisimova made a nervous start in hot conditions on Centre Court, with Catherine, Princess of Wales, watching from the Royal Box.

She was broken in the first game, soon slipping 2-0 behind and the signs looked ominous.

The American appeared to have found her feet in her next service game but the merciless Swiatek refused to give ground and recovered to move 3-0 ahead when Anisimova double-faulted.

At 4-0 down Anisimova was facing a first-set wipe-out but she was powerless to halt the rampant Swiatek, who sealed the opener 6-0 in just 25 minutes.

The American won just six points on her serve in the first set and committed 14 unforced errors.

An increasingly desperate Anisimova could not stem the tide in the second set, double-faulting again in the third game to give her opponent game point and then netting a backhand.

The crowd got behind her but to no avail as Swiatek kept up her level, serving out to win and celebrating before consoling her devastated opponent.

Anisimova made 28 unforced errors in the 12 games.

Swiatek is Wimbledon’s eighth consecutive first-time women’s champion since Serena Williams won her seventh and final title at the All England Club in 2016.

She has won all six major finals in which she has competed.

Swiatek, who now has 100 career Grand Slam match wins, has won the French Open four times and also the US Open, in 2022.

Her previous best performance at Wimbledon was a run to the quarter-finals in 2023.

The distraught Anisimova left court briefly before returning for the trophy presentation.

The American, who lost in qualifying last year, broke down in tears again during her speech on court, calling Swiatek an “incredible player”.

“I know I didn’t have enough today but I’ll keep putting in the work. I keep believing in myself and I hope to be back here one day. Thank you everyone,” she said.

AFP

News

First Female Lawyer In Mid-West Region Is Dead

Published

1 hour ago

July 12, 2025

Editor

First female lawyer in the old Mid-West region, Grace Ogbemi, is dead.

She died in Lagos at the age of 89 just a week before her 90th birthday.

Before her death, she was a successful Itsekiri businessman and politician.

Born in Warri July 11, 1935 to Chief Reece Edukugho, Madam Grace Ogbemi was called to the English Bar in 1958, becoming the first female lawyer in the Mid-West Region, now Edo and Delta states.

She was a partner in the law firm of Godfrey Amachree Ogbemi & Co.

She got married to Franklin Ogbemi, a Chartered Engineer.

She died on July 5, 2025.