Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, Minister in charge of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy

She is not a stranger to controversies. Twice, it was about National Youth Service and now Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, Minister in charge of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy is being asked by a non-profit organization, the Coalition for Transparency, Equity and Justice, under the Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, to explain her office’s decision to allocate N4billion for renting an office, a glass house said to be located along ICPC Road, in Abuja.

FOI empowers Nigerians to request information from public institutions, companies with government control, and private companies that provide public services.

The Coalition, in a letter dated February 14, 2025, signed by its Executive Secretary, Dr. Chima Chibuike, requested clarification on the alleged payment of a whopping N3billion, out of the N4billion, to the property’s landlord “without formal approval from the Federal Executive Council, FEC, as mandated by extant government regulation.”

According to the coalition, the payment, which was reportedly made in tranches “overshot the approval limit for Ministers.”

Another issue the NGO wanted explanation was why the Minister allegedly “laid off highly qualified and vastly experienced top officials of the Ministry and reportedly replaced them with less experienced personnel.” Worse still, she was alleged to have “recommended about 50 aides” for employment in the Ministry.

There is yet another allegation that the Minister was instrumental to the appointment of Ahmed Sodangi, a 32-year-old man, (a Level 09 officer with the Bank of Industry, BOI) said to be her stepson, “as the Director General of the National Gallery of Arts, NGA.”

According to the NGO, “It’s instructive that the Bank of Industry where Sodangi last worked before emerging as DG NGA sponsored major Arts Exhibition in London and Nigeria but that should not be a yardstick for his appointment.”

When TheNEWS called the phone number of the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Minister, Dr. Nneka Ikem-Anibeze, she did not respond. However, she told The Crest Tuesday morning, that she is not aware of any wrongdoing by her principal, the Minister. In other words, she told critics to tell these stories to the Marines!

She categorically rejected the allegation that the Ministry rented an office for N4 billion and paid N3 billion in instalments, declaring that “the entire budget of the Ministry is a little over N4 billion? How is it possible that somebody would rent an office accommodation with N4 billion when our entire budget is just about that amount?” However, critics of the minister, said the aide did not reckon with the fact that the Ministry enjoys grants from different sources.

On the alleged employment of 50 aides, Ikem-Anibeze, argued: “We operate from the Federal Secretariat (Abuja). We (Minister’s aides) operate from the Conference Room of our Office at the Federal Secretariat. Anybody can come and count those of us in the room, and see if we are up to 50.”

The Minister’s spokesperson also responded to the allegation of irregular employments and nepotism that the Coalition for Transparency, Equity and Justice levelled against the Minister.

Maintaining that her boss follows due process in her conduct, Ikem-Anibeze flatly denied that Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa employed her “stepson” as the Director General of the National Gallery of Arts.

“The Honorable Minister does not have any son-in-law or stepson,” she declared. “She is not married and she has only one daughter. How can somebody who is not married have son-in-law or stepson, as the person who called me last week (on the story) said? The Honorable Minister has only one daughter and she is unmarried.”

This is not the first time that the Minister will be the butt of critical comments. When she was to be screened for ministerial position, her inability to provide clear evidence of her mandatory one-year national service, sent tongues wagging.

But the Minister has consistently maintained that she had done nothing unlawful as far as the

However, in an interview with Arise News television, on October 7, 2024, she said: “I did not break the law. I did NYSC and finished. I can assure you that nothing was done to break the law or regulation. Everything that I did was in accordance with the law.”

When she was taken to court, she, in April 2024, came out victorious. In other words, a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the NYSC case as Justice James Omotosho ruled that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to institute the matter.

Also, in 2020,  when President Muhammadu Buhari nominated her as a National Commissioner representing the North-West geopolitical zone on the National Pension Commission Board, the Senate threw her case out after its Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters revealed that she had failed to provide an NYSC certificate or exemption letter.

However, in June 2023, she became a Special Adviser on culture and entertainment economy. She became the Minister of the newly restructured Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, following the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the existing Ministry of Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy on October 30, 2024.

Enacted in 2011, the Freedom of Information Act, among others, makes public records and information more freely available, provides for public access to public records and information, protects public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest. Simply put, it empowers Nigerians to request information from public institutions, companies with government control, and private companies that provide public services.