President Bola Tinubu yesterday summoned the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister was summoned to Aso Rock over payment of N438m as consultancy fee to a company linked to by the suspended minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu.
Recall that the Tunji-Ojo admitted that a company he co-owned with his wife received payment of N438 million from disgraced Betta Edu, who was suspended for illegally requesting to wire public funds into a private account.
The Minister was reacting to a leaked memo showing that his company got a contract from the office of his suspended colleague.
When confronted that he and his wife own the company that benefited from contract allocation from Ms Edu’s ministry during a televised programme on Monday, Tunji-Ojo admitted that, “Yes, I founded the company (Planet Projects Ltd) 15 years ago. But in 2019, when I won election, I resigned as director of the company almost five years ago”.
“I’m not a Director. I resigned as far back as 2019 and CAC certified it”, Tunji-Ojo admitted, showing his interviewer an unverified document.
When questioned on whether he could have used his office to influence a contract for a company in which he is a shareholder in the ministry of his colleague, Tunji-Ojo said public service rules do not prohibit him from being a shareholder. “How could I have done that? I’m minister of Interior not minister of humanitarian. On what basis will I do that? Is a company not entitled to bid for anything?”, the Minister stated.
This comes as President Bola Tinubu suspended on Monday Ms. Edu amidst public outrage over her plot to divert public funds into private a account.
Last Friday, it was reported that last December, Ms. Edu wrote the office of the Accountant-General, demanding that N585 million earmarked to reduce poverty of vulnerable citizens in Akwa-Ibom, Cross-River, Lagos, and Ogun states be paid into the UBA account — 2003682151— of one Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.
Ms. Edu admitted authoring the memo requesting that N585 million be paid into a private account but claimed allegations against her were plotted by fraudulent forces she has exposed.
The Accounted-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, in a statement issued on Saturday, said Ms Edu flouted financial regulations by requesting that funds be wired into a private account.
“Mrs. Madein explained that although her Office received the said request from the Ministry, it did not carry out the payment. The Ministry (Mrs. Edu’s) was, however, advised on the appropriate steps to take in making such payments in line with the established payment procedure.”
The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Ms. Edu has been invited for investigation over her illegal request for N585 million for vulnerable people to be paid into a private account.
