A former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, has urged President Bola Tinubu to reduce the number of his appointees in order to minimize the cost of governance.
Shekarau was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday.
“Another angle I expect the president to address is the number of appointees. Some of these appointees may not be necessarily required. Government should come up with a minimum or maximum number,” he said.
He also praised the President for suspending his Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, who is under investigation for a disbursement scandal. Edu is the first member of the President’s 48-member cabinet to face suspension.
Edu, who underwent a lengthy interrogation at the EFCC office on Tuesday, became embroiled in a N585 million disbursement scandal related to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, drawing widespread criticism from rights groups and activists.
The 37-year-old’s situation worsened when the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, confirmed that her office had received a payment request from the humanitarian ministry but did not act on it.
On Monday, the President took decisive action and immediately suspended the 37-year-old, making her the first member to be removed from the 48-member cabinet inaugurated last August.
The President also directed the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions involving the ministry and one or more agencies under it.
Edu, 37, the youngest member of the President’s cabinet before her suspension, had rapidly risen in the political arena, holding state and national offices at a young age.
Before assuming her ministerial role last August, she served as the Cross River State Commissioner for Health and held the position of National Women Leader in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Edu played a prominent role in Tinubu’s campaign, supporting him during the electioneering process that led to the former Lagos governor becoming President.
Edu secured her ministerial appointment approximately three months after Tinubu took office as President. However, her time as minister was cut short, lasting barely six months—arguably one of the shortest ministerial tenures in recent memory.
Meanwhile, the EFCC interrogated Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, on Monday, in connection with an alleged laundering of N37.1 billion during her tenure as a minister. After a 12-hour marathon questioning, she was allowed to return home, with expectations of her returning on Tuesday for further clarifications on various issues flagged by the Commission during its preliminary investigations.