Minister Tunji-Ojo has denied securing a consultancy service contract from the embattled Betta Edu’s Humanitarian Ministry.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has denied any existing connection with a company that got a consultancy service contract from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
It was earlier reported that a company allegedly owned by Tunji-Ojo was paid a total amount of N438.1 million by the suspended Minister of the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, for consultancy services.
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The company, New Planet Project Limited, was one of the numerous consultants awarded contracts from N3 billion given out by the suspended minister for the National Social Register contract.
In a document posted by the editor of a media platform, Pointblank News, Jackson Ude, Tunji-Ojo’s New Planet Project Limited was initially paid N279 million for verification of the list and another N159 million for the same purpose.
But in an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, the minister refuted being a Director in the company, stressing that he resigned years ago from the company.
The minister added that he resigned from the company in 2019 and has no current link with the management of the company.
While admitting to founding the company alongside his wife, the minister said his resignation from the firm was owing to his political ambition.
He said: “I and my wife founded the company 15 years years ago. Well, in 2019, when I got to the House of Representatives, when I won election precisely, I made a change.
“I had resigned as director of the company to hold office. And actually, I was shocked because the company in question was a company where I was a director. About five years ago, I had resigned from my directorship. I am not a signatory to the company.
“As I’ve always said, I came into public office with a commitment to base my service on sincerity of purpose and openness. I believe that Nigerians don’t deserve to be kept in the dark in terms of public office operations.”
