The Niger Delta Progressive Youths League has expressed dismay over the campaign of calumny and unnecessary blackmail against the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu.
In a statement issued on Saturday by its National President, Comrade Ebiegberi Jonathan, the group said it was not oblivious to the fact that the fictitious articles were sparsely circulated by a few patrons of yellow journalism, maliciously linking Edu to the financial misappropriation at the National Social Investment Programme Agency, NSIPA.
It described it as a diversionary tactic by a set of individuals who are irked by Edu's transparency and audacity in revealing the rot in NSIPA, which has been helpful in the investigation by the anti-graft agency.
It noted: “The Leadership of the Niger Delta Progressive Youths League notes with utter dismay the campaign of calumny, media brigandism, and unnecessary blackmail against our daughter, Dr Betta Edu, by some rabble-rousers from a particular section of the country that feels the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation is their exclusive preserve.
“More so, we are particularly bemused that a particular section of the country feels that a Southerner, let alone one from the Niger Delta region, cannot head the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, hence the inglorious attempt to frustrate the excellent effort of the honourable minister and ultimately blackmail her out of office, to serve their ethnocentric agenda.”
It maintained that the people of the Niger Delta are strongly behind Edu and are proud of her performance as minister thus far.
The group added: “As a people, we frown at any attempt to unnecessarily blackmail, distract and distort the good work the honourable minister is doing in pursuing the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu.”
The group stressed that there is no doubt about the minister's ability to deliver, as her track record from her days as Director General of Primary Healthcare and later, Commissioner for Health in Cross River State, bears testament to her passion, sacrifice and selflessness towards the downtrodden and the poor.
