The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tunji-Ojo

  • ‘Tunji-Ojo victim of ambiguity in our rules’

    ‘Tunji-Ojo victim of ambiguity in our rules’

    President of a pressure group, Truth Be Told Network, Bola Bakare, has called for a rework of legal framework spelling out how public servants can disengage from their private holdings whenever they are appointed into office.

     This is coming just as the group in a statement yesterday canvassed proper education by the media on the saga rocking Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

     Bakare urged Nigerians to look at the issue holistically, saying the Minister for the Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, was a victim of ambiguity in public service rules.

     It said there is need for a thorough examination of activities  in all departments in the ministry before making comments.

     Urging Nigerians to shun sensationalism and speculative comments, Bakare said: “We need to wait for ICPC, EFCC and other bodies probing this saga to come out with their findings.”

    Read Also: EFCC to arraign ex- Anambra Gov Obiano over alleged N4bn fraud

    He described the perceived involvement of the Interior minister as unwarranted, considering that he disengaged himself from a private firm, New Planet Projects, a few years ago, even before his appointment into the cabinet.

    Bakare said as it is now, only career civil servants are bound by the rules, which preclude public officials from any form of affiliation with private profit making entities in the country, adding that it will be wrong for anyone to say that the minister is the one and the same person with New Planet Projects.

     “Only career civil servants, those we call 8am to 5pm workers, who joined the civil service in their 20s till their retirement in their 60s are the ones that are strictly bound by the law as it is today.”

  • Interior Minister, Tunji-Ojo fails to appear before CCB, asks for new date

    Interior Minister, Tunji-Ojo fails to appear before CCB, asks for new date

    Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo on Tuesday, January 16, failed to appear before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for an interaction over his alleged link to one of the companies that got contract from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. 

    The minister, who was scheduled to appear before the CCB at about 11.00am on Tuesday reportedly wrote to the Bureau requesting for another date. 

    The Nation learnt the minister informed the Bureau that he had prior engagement official engagement which he need to attend to. 

    The company, New Planet Projects Limited allegedly got about N438million consultancy contract from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. 

    The consultancy job is part of ongoing probe of the suspicious N3 billion spending by the Ministry Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development under the watch of now suspended Minister, Dr. Betta Edu.

    Read Also: Betta Edu: PDP demands suspension of Interior minister, Tunji-Ojo

    Tunji-Ojo who is said to be a shareholder in the company, said he had resigned as a director since 2019 when he won election to the House of Representatives, leaving its management in hands of his wife. 

    However, invitation to the minister was for him to come and show proof that he is no longer involved in the activities of the company, while also reviewing his asset declaration form with a team of investigators.

    When The Nation visited the CCB office on the fifth floor, phase 1 of the Federal Secretariat complex, there was no sign that the Minister was to appear there. 

    A staff of the Public Relations Unit simply told The Nation that “the meeting has been postponed”, but could not say when the Minister will no appear. 

  • Open letter to President Tinubu: Tunji-Ojo needs protection as monstrous passport cabal fights back!

    Open letter to President Tinubu: Tunji-Ojo needs protection as monstrous passport cabal fights back!

    It’s not a coincidence. No. And we, members of the Renewed Hope Collective (RHC), saw it coming! 

    The moment the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made the bold decision to appoint Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo as Minister of Interior and the minister declared his intention to implement the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda without fear or favour, we knew he would get into trouble. 

    We didn’t know it would be so soon!

    The monstrous passport cabal is after him for daring to break their stranglehold on long, deliberate delays in passport production, which was costing the country billions of dollars in foreign exchange but was hugely profitable to the cabal!

    Tunji-Ojo belongs to an unenviable select group of change-makers who predictably would incur the wrath and ferocious resistance of the sectorial cabals profiting from the existing modus operandi in dire need of cleansing. 

    The minister reminds one of the late Chief Bola Ige, who promised to “turn stone into bread” in the power sector, having been appointed minister of power by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Both his talk and walk suggested that he was, indeed, going to turn things around, but the powerful and desperate energy sector cabal frustrated his efforts until he was eased out.   

    Another go-getter who had to fight her sectorial cabal tooth and nail was the late Prof. Dora Akunyili when she was the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). There was nothing the cabal in the food and drug sector didn’t do either to sabotage her effort or eliminate her. Death threats, charms and attempted assassinations were regular occurrences just because the woman was determined to rid Nigeria of fake products. 

    Tunji-Ojo is their latest target!

    The cabal has been making a mountain of the molehill of the alleged involvement of New Planet Project Limited in the award of contracts by the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu.

    They have smelt blood, and sharks that they are, they are coming for the Interior Minister!

    Indeed, Tunji-Ojo founded the company 10 years ago, but he resigned from directorship in 2019 when he contested for the House of Representatives and has not been involved in the Management of the company since.

    On a Channels TV programme on Monday night, he produced a Certified True Copy of Corporate Affairs Commission as far back as 2019 to prove this. 

    Read Also: Alleged N438m consultancy fee: ‘It’s all good’, says Tunji-Ojo as he walks out of Presidential Villa

    He is also NOT a signatory to the accounts of the company and his traducers have not shown any proof that he was a DIRECT beneficiary of the contract awarded to the company.

    It is precisely to avoid a potentially legally untenable situation as envisaged in the civil service regulations that the Minister resigned his appointment in the company five years ago!

    In only a few months since he was appointed minister, see the list of his achievements:

    ●   Elevated the Ministry of Interior from a mere public holiday-declaring office to a proper result-oriented supervising ministry. 

    ●  Announced a two-week timeline for processing passport applications; promised the commencement of home and office delivery of passports to applicants from February 2024 and kept his promise and scored the first PR points for the government.

    ●  Threatened to commence the execution of the principle of reciprocity in international relations by halting the visa-on-arrival privilege granted foreign nationals whose countries subject Nigerians to rigorous visa application processes. 

    ●  Commenced personal upload of passport photographs on NIS passport application portal; and established more e-passport offices in Europe.

    ●  Led the advocacy for fair compensation for paramilitary officers, insisting that their salaries must align with those of the Nigeria Police Force personnel 

    ●  Commenced arrangements to set up a functional pension board for paramilitary personnel as a mechanism to secure their future. 

    ●  Cleared fines and compensations worth N585 million for 4,068 inmates nationwide on account of their inability to pay their fines as penalties for crimes committed, all in an effort at prison decongestion.

    ●  Improved operational capacities of agencies and parastatals under his ministry to the extent that popular governance, policy and strategic management expert, Dr Joe Abah, documented the pleasant outcome of his random visit to the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters.

    The cabal is NOT blind! The cabal was to destroy what it fears – positive change! 

    The Renewed Hope Collective (RHC) wants the public to know that it’s the Passport Cabal that is behind the campaign of calumny against Tunji-Ojo! Nothing more, nothing less!

    We urge President Tinubu, GCFR, to remain focused and steadfast in the implementation of this Renewed Hope Agenda, but to be mindful of beheaded snakes in the system who do not wish him and the country well!

    This fight is bigger than Tunji-Ojo, bigger than his office, and bigger than the Ministry! 

    The President who sent him on this mission for renewed hope MUST protect him from a monstrous cabal that threatens to swallow him alive!

    Renewed Hope Collective 

    Abuja (and in Diaspora)

    13, Mungono Street

    Kubwa 

    Abuja

  • Betta Edu: PDP demands suspension of Interior minister, Tunji-Ojo

    Betta Edu: PDP demands suspension of Interior minister, Tunji-Ojo

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded the immediate suspension, investigation and possible prosecution of the minister of interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo over an alleged involvement in the movement of N438 million poverty alleviation fund under the watch of the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu.

    A statement issued by Debo Ologunagba, the national publicity secretary of PDP, describes as ‘inexcusable’ that the two ministers directly entrusted with the well-being of Nigerians reportedly used a company in which the Minister of Interior has huge interest to allegedly siphon funds meant for poor Nigerians under the guise of consultancy fee for unsubstantiated verification of households in the country.

    It urged President Bola Tinubu to take immediate action to protect the resources meant for the well-being of poor Nigerians from further plundering by suspending the Interior Minister over the alleged fraud and hand him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation like his suspended counterpart.

    Read Also: N585m allegations against Tunji-Ojo baseless – NANS

    The party said: “Nigerians are appalled by the lame excuse by Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo in claiming that he has no interest in the company despite his confession of owning huge shares in the firm; a channel through which he allegedly benefitted immensely from the said fraudulent consultancy fee payment.

    “Such apparent money laundering stunt is again consistent with the crafty character and proclivity of the APC for plundering of public resources. This is especially given allegations in the public space that bulk of the money was diverted to private accounts of cronies of prominent APC leaders in the National Assembly and the Presidency.

    “The PDP challenges the Interior Minister to publish the details of the due process certification documents, the scope of job, the experts and modules used as well as particulars of the 11 million Nigerian households claimed to have been verified within a space of one month.

    “The continuing stay in office of Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo as Minister of Interior can only further confirm PDP’s position that the Tinubu-led APC administration is a haven for treasury looters.”

    The PDP further asserts that the only way President Tinubu can reassure Nigerians is to immediately relieve the Minister of Interior of his appointment and allow for an independent inquiry into the disbursement of the N438 million with the view to not only exposing and prosecuting all those involved in the alleged scam but also to recover and channel the money for the wellbeing of Nigerians.

  • N585m allegations against Tunji-Ojo baseless – NANS

    N585m allegations against Tunji-Ojo baseless – NANS

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has described the alleged involvement of Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo in the N585m saga rocking the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation as baseless.

    The body said despite remarkable achievements of the Minister within the short period of assuming office, there have been attempts to tarnish his reputation through baseless allegations, blackmail, and propaganda.

    President Bola Tinubu suspended the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, from office with immediate effect, over alleged N585m scandal in the Ministry.

    A statement by NANS President, Com. Lucky Emonefe stated that Tunji-Ojo is not involved in as alleged, saying his dedication to public service and notable achievements he spearheaded are commendable.

    The statement reads: “As Nigerian students, we take pride in positive impact Tunji-Ojo has had and continues to have on the Interior Ministry. His proactive approach, efficiency, and vision for a safer and more secure Nigeria resonate with our aspirations.

    “We urge the Federal Government not to be swayed by distractions but to provide Tunji-Ojo with necessary support. His leadership is invaluable, and we believe that with continued support, he will achieve even greater milestones for the benefit of our nation.

    Read Also: NANS commends Minister over automated passport registration

    “The Minister has proven himself to be a dedicated and resourceful public servant. We encourage the Federal Government to stay focused on the development agenda, allowing him to contribute his best to the nation.

    “The Minister should be assured that as long as he continue to excel in his role, Nigerian students will stand gallantly with him. His progressive initiatives and dedication to national development resonate with the ideals of a learned and forward-thinking student community.

    “We call upon the Federal Government to recognise the invaluable contributions of Tunji-Ojo and to extend all necessary support to ensure the continued success of his impactful leadership.”

  • Alleged N438m consultancy fee: ‘It’s all good’, says Tunji-Ojo as he walks out of Presidential Villa

    Alleged N438m consultancy fee: ‘It’s all good’, says Tunji-Ojo as he walks out of Presidential Villa

    President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, January 9, summoned the minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo to the Presidential Villa over a link to Betta Edu.

    This is coming barely 24 hours after the suspension of his counterpart in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu.

    Tunji-Ojo was summoned to Aso Rock for overpayment of N438m as a consultancy fee to a company linked to the suspended minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu.

    The Nation learnt the minister when he approached for an interview, simply said “It’s all good” as he walked out of the Presidential Villa.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Tinubu summons Interior Minister Tunji-Ojo over link to Betta Edu

    There were reports that a company owned by the Minister of Interior, New Planet Projects Limited was paid N438.1m by Edu for consultancy services.

    But while featuring on Channels TV’s Politics Today, on Monday night, Tunji-Ojo said though he founded the company 10 years ago, he resigned from its directorship in 2019 when he contested for the House of Representatives.

    The Minister of Interior described the report as shocking insisting he is only a shareholder in the company and not involved in its day-to-day operations.

    He said: “I have to say this, I saw it and I was shocked because the company in question was a company, where I was the director.

    “About five years ago, I had resigned my directorship. Yes, I founded the company 10 years ago. In 2019 when I got to the House of Representatives, when I won the election precisely, I resigned. I resigned 4th of February 2019 with a Certified True Copy of Corporate Affairs Commission as far back as 2019 to prove this.”

  • BREAKING: Tinubu summons Interior Minister Tunji-Ojo over link to Betta Edu

    BREAKING: Tinubu summons Interior Minister Tunji-Ojo over link to Betta Edu

    President Bola Tinubu has summoned the minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo to the Presidential Villa.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Suspended Minister Betta Edu arrives EFCC office

    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.

    Details shortly…

  • Interior Minister to launch automated passport application system today

    Interior Minister to launch automated passport application system today

    The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo will on Monday, January 8, launch the much-anticipated International Passport Automation system.

    The Nation had announced that the automated passport system will go live during a review of Nigeria Immigration Service facilities in Abuja on January 8, 2024.

    Read Also: Govt kicks off issuance of automated passports

    The programme intends to give applicants a convenient and secure experience while also reducing the human interface in the passport application process.

    The minister emphasised the importance of the new system in strengthening the country’s security architecture and safeguarding Nigerian residents’ comfort and convenience.

    He said the Nigeria Immigration Service had deployed document verification personnel across all local government areas in the country to improve document verification.

    Tunji-Ojo emphasized the government’s commitment to putting a stop to the use of forged documents in passport applications.

    Details shortly…

  • Tunji-Ojo honoured for transforming ministry

    Tunji-Ojo honoured for transforming ministry

    A media outfit, Triangle News International, has honoured Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo for his contributions to the ministry since he assumed office.

    The news outlet said it celebrated the minister for his remarkable leadership and transformative impact since taking over the ministry.

    It noted that Tunji-Ojo’s swift clearance of an extensive backlog of over 200,000 passports within a short period not only streamlined administrative processes but also exemplified his dedication to efficiency.

    Triangle News International also lauded the minister’s efforts which led to the decongestion of correctional centres by swiftly settling fines exceeding N585 million, promoting a more equitable and efficient justice system.

    Read Also: Tunji-Ojo’s N23m, bags of rice for Ondo APC members

    In a statement, the news platform said: “His tenure has been defined by a series of ground-breaking initiatives and significant achievements that have not only revolutionised the Ministry of Interior but have also garnered widespread acclaim from Nigerians at home and abroad.

    “Under his stewardship, the ministry witnessed a fundamental upgrade in emergency response capabilities with the commissioning of modern fire-fighting trucks. Embracing technological advancements, Tunji-Ojo introduced innovations to digitalise and streamline the passport enrollment process, marking a crucial step towards modernisation.

    “His initiatives, aimed at international engagement and collaboration with multinational corporations, significantly bolstered internal security, reflecting a vision that transcends borders.

    “Tunji-Ojo’s transformative initiatives, tireless dedication, and visionary leadership have not only reshaped the Ministry of Interior but also positioned him as a beacon of excellence and reform.”

  • Tunji-Ojo’s N23m, bags of rice for Ondo APC members

    Tunji-Ojo’s N23m, bags of rice for Ondo APC members

    Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has given 1,200 bags of rice to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, for them to celebrate Christmas and New Year festivities.

    He also doled out N1million each to all APC secretariats in the 18 local governments and N5million to members of the state executive of the party.

    In Akoko North West where Tunji-Ojo hails from, he gave APC members two trailers of rice and undisclosed amount of money.

    Some APC executives, who confirmed receiving Tunji-Ojo’s largesse, said there was smooth and effective distribution of the rice across the state, while the cash gifts have been made available to the concerned persons.

    Read Also; Florence Ita-Giwa retires?

    They said the minister had done what past ministers could not give to party and non-party members since the creation of Ondo State.

    One of them, who gave his name as Afoloyan Adebusi, said: ”I am most glad that we now have a minister that truly sees the entire state as his constituency. Tunji-Ojo deserves appreciation for putting smiles on the faces of members and non-members of APC in Ondo State.

    “It also gladdens the heart that Tunji-Ojo has likewise thoughtfully made provisions for the state executive members of our great party, APC. This gesture is unprecedented in the history of Ondo State and the man deserves to be appreciated by everyone. My most sincere appreciation goes to the Interior Minister for his Christmas and New Year gifts.”