What Tunji-Ojo Has Not Told Nigerians

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has denied involvement in the N438.1 million consultancy contract between his New Planet Project Limited and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

President Bola Tinubu had on Monday suspended the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Minister, Dr. Betta Edu. He also directed the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, to investigate all financial transactions involving the ministry.

Edu came under criticism after a leaked memo on December 20, 2023, revealed that she requested the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer N585million to a private account owned by one Oniyelu Bridget, who the ministry claimed currently serves as the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups.

It was also alleged that Edu paid N438.1million consultancy contract to New Planet Project Limited linked to Tunji-Ojo. But reacting, Tunji-Ojo while appearing on a television programme, revealed that he founded the company 10 years ago, but resigned from directorship in 2019 when he contested for House of Representatives.

The Interior minister, who described the report as shocking, said he is just a shareholder in the company who is not involved in the day-to-day running of the company.

Tunji-Ojo stated that he resigned as a director of his company in February 2019.

However, he was silent on his shareholder status at the company. A director can be distinct from a shareholder. You don’t have to be a director to be a shareholder of a company and vice versa. So, if Betta Edu’s ministry paid a certain sum into his company’s account, won’t he still be a beneficiary of the profits of the company where he remains a shareholder? Should he not have placed his shares in trust or relinquished them as is expected of public office holders who had business interests before their appointments?

It would be really difficult for him to convince Nigerians that it was not due to his influence that the company got the contract, given his perceived closeness to the suspended minister and his membership of the federal cabinet. How can he convince the people that the bidding process was transparent? How can he convince Nigerians that as a serving minister he did not influence the award of contracts to a company he founded by the administration he is serving?