Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, has been called by the Young Progressive Party, YPP, to be suspended by President Bola Tinubu because of his purported involvement in the scandalous contract at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
The party threatened to mobilize young people nationwide to shut down Abuja on Monday, January 15, 2024, if they did not suspend the minister within 48 hours.
Comrade Emmanuel Bishop Amakiri, the party’s national chairman, demanded the minister be suspended on Tuesday night in an open letter to Tinubu, citing abuse of office as justification.
Under Dr. Betta Edu’s direction, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation was allegedly having fraudulent dealings with Tunji-Ojo, according to evidence that the YPP insisted they had.
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In order to discourage others, they pleaded with Tinubu to prosecute the minister.
“We have gathered evidence that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, led by Dr. Betta Edu, paid a total of N438.1 million for consultancy services to a company owned by Minister Tunji Ojo, New Planet Project Limited,” the letter stated in part.
This payment was a portion of the N3 billion that was given to multiple consultants for the National Social Register contract. The money was meant for social investment initiatives and cash transfers.
“N279 million and an additional N159 million were paid to Minister Tunji Ojo’s company, New Planet Project Limited, for the verification of the list and for the same purpose.”It is noteworthy that Minister Tunji Ojo and his wife Abimbola are listed as directors of the company, which was registered on March 3, 2009, under registration number 804833. The secretary of the company is Gbadamasi Gbadamasi Clement.
“We firmly feel that Minister Tunji Ojo’s actions directly contravene both the Code of Conduct law and the Nigerian Constitution. Public officials are expressly forbidden from having conflicts of interest and from being involved in any business other than farming by Sections 5 and 6 of the Code of Conduct law.
“It is a known fact that the Federal Executive Council Meeting, of which Minister Tunji Ojo is a member, is the only body that could have approved a contract of this magnitude.”
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