The Kano State-born businessman, politician, and philanthropist, Abdussalam Abdulkarim Zaura, popularly known as AA. Zaura, has said that the continued absence of the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Betta Edu, has slowed down the humanitarian momentum of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Zaura, who spoke in Abuja yesterday, noted that the embattled minister was notably touching the lives of ordinary Nigerians in line with the renewed hope agenda of President Tinubu until her suspension.
Edu was suspended over alleged financial impropriety and was directed to be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
As the investigation lingers, some Nigerians have called for transparency and fairness, urging the President to give the Minister a second chance considering her competence and humanitarian disposition towards ordinary Nigerians.
According to Zaura, who was the candidate for the Kano Central Senatorial seat in the 2023 general elections, “the absence of Edu in the ministry has reduced the visible impact the ministry made across Nigeria within a short time that President Tinubu came into power.”
He therefore expressed dismay over the delay in the investigation, adding that “the matter should not be politicized and if she is found innocent, she should be reinstated quickly to continue the good works of using that ministry to touch the lives of the masses, especially underprivileged Nigerians.”
“I think something should be done quickly because that ministry is a sensitive office and it means so much to the people of Nigeria. We all saw her efforts across Nigeria when she was in office; every Nigerian could testify of her impact within such a short time of this administration.
“Whenever there was natural disaster, she was always there, wherever there was issue of hunger, you see this woman there; so she was a passionate agent of the renewed hope agenda of Mr. President.
“Every Nigerian saw what she was doing as a minister. So, her investigation should be fair and objective, and the President should expedite the process for Nigerians to know if she is coming back to office,” he said.
According to the founder of A. A. Zaura Foundation, a humanitarian NGO, “as Nigerians faced face with hunger and biting economic challenges, someone in the capacity of the suspended minister is needed to steer the humanitarian ministry.”
He added that despite being the youngest among all the ministers, she demonstrated uncommon competence and passion in less than six months, “and I think she is needed more in times like these.”
