Adeyanju explained that both the Minister and Permanent Secretary were all culpable and could not be put in charge of the ministry.
A human rights activist and convener of Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, has faulted the decision of President Bola Tinubu to direct the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Dr Betta Edu to hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the ministry.
Adeyanju explained that both the Minister and Permanent Secretary were all culpable and could not be put in charge of the ministry.
He noted that every other minister, under President Tinubu-led government transferred money into private accounts and breached civil service laws, adding that Betta was only caught.
"A few days ago, I issued a statement commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for swiftly suspending the Hon. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Dr. Betta Edu, following the scandal that has become the hallmark of that ministry.
"However, the subsequent pronouncement by the Presidency directing the Hon. Minister to hand over the affairs of the Ministry to the permanent secretary, has raised a haze of clouds in my eyes and doubts in my mind, hence this additional statement."
According to him, the permanent secretary is not only the highest ranking civil servant in the ministry, but is also the chief financier officer of the ministry. "In fact, the permanent secretary is the engine room of every ministry. While politicians come and go, the permanent secretary is always there until he or she resigns.
"It is, therefore, highly unlikely that the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs was unaware of the corrupt practices that was going on in that ministry. The permanent secretary ranks only next to the Minister. How were these monies moved to private accounts without the knowledge of Mr. Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, the permanent secretary?
"Whose duty was it to bring the minister abreast with the various civil service rules aimed at prohibiting corrupt practices? Can the permanent secretary truly deny knowledge of the sleaze that went down in that ministry or is it a case of several persons dipping their hands into the public purse but only the person who was caught is called the thief?
"It is in the light of the foregoing that the decision by Mr. President to hand over the running of the ministry to the permanent secretary is, in my opinion, ill advised."
The rights activist insisted that for a holistic investigation to be carried out in that ministry, the President, should suspend the permanent secretary and all the directors to determine their culpability if any, "in what has become a national embarrassment".
Asked the president to appoint another permanent secretary other than the permanent secretary of the humanitarian affairs to take over the affairs of the ministry pending determine of investigation.
"From my findings on this matter, all ministers under the Tinubu government transferred monies into private accounts on the advice of civil servants mostly the permanent secretaries of their ministries.
"I have also come to find out that these civil servants deliberately get politicians and political appointees to contravene civil service laws so as to have something over their heads in order to perpetrate corruption unchallenged."
He therefore, called on the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to start to investigate all ministries and not just Humanitarian Affairs alone.
"Justice must not only be done in this case, but it must also be seen to be done," he insisted.