Who is Betta Edu? 10 Things You May Not Know About the Suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs

Betta Edu is a 37-year-old female politician and one of the youngest ministers in Nigeria until her suspension on December 8, 2024, over a N585 million scandal in her ministry.

The young minister, before her ministerial appointment, served as the National Women’s leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Below are 10 things you may not know about Betta Edu:

1. Full Name: Her full name is Betta Chimaobim Edu
2. A Twin: Edu, a twin, was in London until she was about eight years when she returned to Cross River with her four other siblings and parents.
3. Date of Birth: Betta Edu was born on October 27, 1986.
4. Age: She is currently 37 years old and will be 38 years old by October 27, 2024.
5. Parents: Dr Betta C. Edu is a Medical Doctor, Public Health Specialist, born in Lagos to the family of Mr Emmanuel Eke (father), a businessman who worked with an engineering firm but later became a missionary when he returned to Nigeria. Her mother was a stay-at-home wife.
6. Husband and Children: Edu’s husband was her friend from school days. The couple has two children.
7. Education: Charles Walker International Nursery and Primary School (1995) – Primary Education; Federal Government Girls College, Calabar (2001) – Secondary School Education; University of Calabar, Cross River State (2009) – Medicine and Surgery (MBBCh).
8. Political Career: She was brought into the political space by the wife of the ex-Cross River governor, Dr Linda Ayade. Linda is a “medical colleague and a very close friend” of Betta Edu.
9. Betta Edu became the youngest national woman leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in March 2022.
10. She attended Shiloh in 2022 and prayed to return in 2023 as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Edu became a minister in 2023 but was suspended in January 2024 over a N585 million scandal.

For more details, read our full biography of Betta Edu.