Betta Edu, a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and ex-chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, Ngozi Olejeme, have been appointed as members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2027 presidential campaign council.
It was gathered that the APC unveiled the campaign council on Saturday, with former Zamfara State Governor and serving senator, Abdulaziz Yari, as Director-General, while Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, was named Secretary.
Edu and Olejeme were given roles in the campaign structure despite having been previously embroiled in allegations and investigations relating to financial misconduct.
Director of Women’s Mobilization, Edu, number 97 on the campaign council list.
Her appointment comes more than two years after President Bola Tinubu suspended her as minister of humanitarian affairs over a controversial financial transaction.
On January 8, 2024, Tinubu suspended Edu after a memo surfaced in which she allegedly asked the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer ₦585 million to a private account.
The President later directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the ministry’s financial transactions.
Edu was later quizzed by EFCC officials at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
The development also resulted in the suspension of programs under the National Social Investment Program Authority (NSIPA) for six weeks as the Federal Government began a probe into alleged irregularities surrounding the agency.
The EFCC said in April 2024 that it had recovered N30bn linked to its probe of activities at the humanitarian affairs ministry.
The commission also said it was probing some 50 bank accounts as part of the probe.
Edu was eventually sacked from the Federal Executive Council in October 2024.
Tinubu subsequently replaced her in the ministry with Nentawe Yilwatda, now the APC national chairman, during a cabinet reshuffle.
Five days after the reshuffle, the President’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed that Edu was no longer in the cabinet.
“There is no more place for her in that cabinet as far as this government is concerned,” Onanuga said.
Asked about the outcome of the investigation into the former minister, the presidential spokesman said the EFCC had not made its findings public.
Read Also: Full List of APC Presidential Campaign Council Members Unveiled by Tinubu
Olejeme Gets South-South Job
Olejeme, who is number 37 on the campaign council list, has been appointed South-South Zonal Director for Election Planning, Coordination and Mobilization.
Her appointment comes as she has a pending money laundering case instituted by the EFCC.
The anti-graft agency in October 2025 arraigned the former NSITF board chairman before a Federal High Court in Abuja for alleged ₦1 billion money laundering.
She was accused of eight counts of alleged conversion, transfer, procurement and possession of proceeds of unlawful activities.
The EFCC had accused Olejeme of diverting funds belonging to the NSITF between 2012 and 2015 when she served as the chairman of the agency’s board.
After her plea, the prosecution counsel, Emenike Mgbemele, sought a trial date and told the court that the EFCC intended to call 14 witnesses.
Justice Emeka Nwite later released Olejeme to her lawyer and adjourned the matter to November 17 for hearing of her bail application.
She was wanted by the EFCC in September 2017 on charges bordering on “criminal conspiracy, abuse of office, diversion of public funds and money laundering” involving about ₦69 billion.
In July 2020, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered the interim forfeiture of 48 properties reportedly linked to the former NSITF chairman, three years after the investigation.
She was also arraigned before a Federal Capital Territory High Court on nine counts in October 2021.
