– Ayade’s aides in veiled celebrations
Competent security sources in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, confirmed to www.calitown.com early this morning that under fire Humanitarian Affairs minister, Betta Edu, no more has access to the Aso Rock villa, the presidential secretariat in the country, after her villa access card was retrieved by state security officials.
A villa access pass enables top government officials to gain access to the Villa and meet with Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu.
While information about the card retrieval is thin, we also gathered that the retrieval was done after she visited the villa and serially tried to meet with the president. “From January 1st, 2024, she has been trying to see the president…to see if things could be ironed out after news broke about what was happening in her ministry, but we think the president didn’t want to see her. We can tell you for certain that she was within the precincts of the Villa when her suspension was announced on Monday, unknown to her”, we were told.
“The cars that brought her were withdrawn immediately and they assigned two security men to see her out”, video footage spotted on TVC News, confirmed this, showing Edu escorted out of the admin foyer of the villa in a black Toyota Hilux van belonging to security details in the villa.
Veiled celebrations
In a twist to this unfolding story, some aides and supporters of former Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, have resorted to veiled celebrations and posting of cryptic messages on social media, shortly after Edu’s suspension notice broke out.
“Please don’t act as if you don’t know that our principal, Ben Ayade, gave this lady the opportunity to grow and took her to the position of National Women Leader of the APC. But once there, she became her own person, even putting her foot in places our boss had interests in and aiming to outshine her master. Believe it or not, life has a way of putting a leash on the ambitions of ungrateful persons, like she has been to Ayade, in recent times”, a former aide of Ben Ayade, who has elected to remain anonymous, told us.
Edu has received criticism after a leaked memo dated December 20, 2023, revealed that she directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer N585m to a private account owned by one Oniyelu Bridget. Oniyelu, the ministry claims, currently serves as the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups.
She was also said to have approved air fares and allowances for her aides to fly to Kogi State, a state in the country without an airport. Investigations into the allegations have since begun.
