Ten months after suspending Betta Edu as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, President Bola Tinubu has appointed Nentawe Yilwatda as her replacement.
The president announced the replacement alongside other decisions on the restructuring of ministries which were communicated to the public on Wednesday.
Following the announcement, FIJ highlights five major talking points that stood out from the president’s decisions.
READ ALSO: In December 2023, Women Affairs Ministry Illegally Paid Uju Ohaneye N11.3m ‘to Attend COP28 in Dubai’
UJU-KENNEDY OHANENYE
Ohanenye was an inaugural member of the president’s cabinet who headed the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
Her 14-month stint at the ministry was characterised by various controversies, infractions and some empowerment programmes.
Statement on the Restructuring of Ministries and Ministerial Portfolios (23/10/2024) pic.twitter.com/79UzdzgdTh— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) October 23, 2024
In September 2023, FIJ reported that Ohanenye publicly called for children to be engaged in factory work, a call that contravenes Nigeria’s Child Rights Act and other child protection regulations.
Last September, FIJ also reported how the ministry paid N11,316,800 to her account number directly as visa fees, estacode and contingencies while in Dubai for the 2023 Conference of Parties (CoP). This went contrary to Chapter 7, Section 713 of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009.
NENTAWE YILWATDA
Nentawe Yilwatda replaces Betta Edu as minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction.
On January 8, the president suspended Edu days after a leaked internal memo showed how she authorised the transfer of N585 million from the ministry’s National Social Investment Office’s account to Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola, a civil servant.
Since then, the ministry has been without a minister, fueling speculations that the president might be reconsidering restoring her to her role.
Yilwatda, a university scholar, is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and was its 2023 governorship candidate in the Plateau State election.
He was also previously a national commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
LIVESTOCK MINISTRY
Tinubu created the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development on Wednesday, laying to rest the debate on the rightness or otherwise of such a ministry.
Until Wednesday, livestock development was a subset of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s mandate.
READ ALSO: FULL LIST: Tinubu’s Ministers and Their Portfolios
Idi Muktar, a former managing director of the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company and a livestock farmer, becomes the pioneer minister of this livestock ministry.
Nigeria faces a longstanding crisis between farmers and herders whose cattle openly graze, migrating from one community to another and destroying farm crops. This has contributed significantly to the fragile peace and security in the country and increased death rates.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY
Another point to be highlighted in the presidential decisions is the creation of the Ministry of Regional Development, a distinct ministry that will house and coordinate the different development commissions for geopolitical zones.
Presently, there are four development commissions in the country, namely: Niger Delta Development Commission, South East Development Commission, North West Development Commission and North East Development Commission.
One more such commission might be added soon as the Senate recently passed a bill for the creation of the South West Development Commission.
These commissions operated without a central agency to direct their affairs before Wednesday.
The post Livestock Ministry, Betta Edu Replaced… 4 Talking Points From Tinubu’s Ministerial Decisions appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.