“I’m not signatory to agency” Tunji-Ojo denies N438 million contract award allegations

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The Minister of Inside, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has refuted claims suggesting his involvement as a signatory within the firm implicated in N438 million contract allegations linked to the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu.

A leaked memo circulating on-line indicated that an organization, allegedly owned by Tunji-Ojo, acquired N438 million designated as ‘consultancy charges’ from Edu.

Reacting to the allegation in an interview on Channels TV on Monday, Tunji-Ojo mentioned, “I’m not a signatory to the corporate.”
“And really, I used to be shocked as a result of the corporate in query was an organization the place I used to be a director. About 5 years in the past, I had resigned from my directorship,” he added.

In the meantime, the minister confirmed his function in co-founding the corporate together with his spouse and attributed his resignation in 2019 from the agency to his political ambitions.

“I and my spouse based the corporate 15 years years in the past. Properly, in 2019, once I obtained to the Home of Representatives I gained the election exactly, I made a change,
“I had resigned as director of the corporate to carry workplace.
“After all, and to one of the best of my data, the general public service rule doesn’t prohibit public officers from being shareholders,” Olubunmi mentioned.

What it is best to know

The embattled minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Betta Edu, was suspended by President Bola Tinubu after allegedly diverting greater than N585 million to a non-public account.
Additionally, a leaked memo circulating on-line confirmed that an organization, New Planet Undertaking Restricted, was awarded contracts price N438 million as ‘consultancy charges’ from Edu.
The connection between the agency and the Minister of Inside, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, raises issues a few potential battle of curiosity. It prompts scrutiny into whether or not the minister could have misused his place to safe the contract.
In the meantime, Tunji-Ojo clarified in an interview on Monday that he’s now not a signatory of the corporate since he resigned from it in 2019 after successful the Home of Representatives seat.
He subsequently famous that there can’t be any battle of curiosity, including that he can’t be held liable for the actions of the corporate he now not runs.