How Minister In Charge Of Npower, Dr. Betta Edu, And Her Team Members Collected Public Funds For Flight Tickets, To Fly From Abuja To Kogi Airport

The Minister in charge of Npower, Dr. Betta Edu in November 2023 approved public funds for flight tickets and airport taxis for the her teams from Abuja to a non existent Airport in Kogi State.

Documents obtained from a reliable source revealed how the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) moved ₦226,188,500 to Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (the ministry in charge of Npower) ahead of Saturday November 11th, 2023 gubernatorial elections.

According to Npower, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted gubernatorial elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa states on Saturday November 11th, 2023.

An analysis of the transfer of the funds showed that ₦72,374,500 was transferred to Kogi State on November 6th, 2023, through the Director of Finance Account, National Social Investment Agency (NSIPA) just 5 days before the gubernatorial election.

The minister in charge of Npower, Dr Betta Edu's advanced team received ₦2,515,000 for Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) for 5 nights, local running at 30% of Duty Tour Allowance (DTA), for flight tickets and airport taxis.

Dr Betta Edu's advanced team members comprising Honourable Thalis Olonite Apalowo (New Public Management (NPM), Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG)), Mrs Oniyelu Mojisola Bridget (Project Accountant), Ibrahim Adamu Department of State Services (DSS), Adejumo Olusegun Agbailu (TTL, GVG), Mr Iyanda Abiodun (Protocol Officer), Chime Jessica Ginika (ONPM) and Salami Surajudeen Ojo (Driver) received ₦200,000 for flight ticket and ₦20,000 for airport taxi, amounting to the sum of ₦1,540,000. 

Dr. Betta Edu's main team received ₦2,159,500 for Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) for 5 nights, local running at 30% of Duty Tour Allowance (DTA), for flight tickets and airport taxis. Each of the main teams apart from the minister in charge of Npower Dr. Betta Edu also received ₦200,000 for flight ticket and ₦20,000 for airport taxi. 

The members of the ministers (main) team are Caroline Nelson (SA Strategy), Abdulrasheed Olariwaju (SA Media), Mamman Mohammed Sanusi (SA Protocol), Agbor Smart Edim, Felix A. David (Chief Details) and Ibrahim Adamu DSS (Department of State Services).

Investigations gathered from a reliable source, revealed that while Kogi State airport is non existent, the nearest airport to it is in Akure, Ondo State, which is about 5 hours distance by road. Abuja to Lokoja the capital of Kogi, is about 3 hours by road so commuters often travel from Abuja to Kogi by road. Other airports around Kogi are in Owerri, Imo State, Enugu State and Delta State, but all this airports are farther than Akure from Lokoja.