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- Says he resigned four years ago as director of a company before being appointed minister
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
A group, Transparency and Good Governance (FTGG), has come out strongly to defend the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, over his alleged involvement in N438.1 million consultancy contract between New Planet Project Limited and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation under the suspended Minister, Betta Edu.
According to the group, since documents revealed that the Interior Minister resigned as a Director of New Planet Project Limited in 2019, it would amount to witch-hunting to link him to the contract scandal.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended Edu over corruption allegations on Monday.
Shortly after Edu’s suspension, reports emerged that the Minister allegedly paid a company owned by the Minister of Interior a total amount of N438.1 million for consultancy services.
However, the leader of the group, Mustapha Ahmed Malumfashi who explained in a press statement that, “it is unfair and ridiculous to link the Minister to the alleged contact scam, when he resigned from the company on 4th February,2019 after he won election into the House of Representatives with a Certified True Copy of Corporate Affairs Commission as far back as 2019 to prove this.
“But Tunji-Ojo, who reacted while appearing on Channels TV Politics Today on Monday night, agreed he co-founded the company ten years ago, but resigned from directorship.
“The Minister, who described the report as shocking, did say he was not involved in the day-to-day running of New Planet Project Limited and all that is expected is to confirm the veracity of his claim.
“However, form our investigation, Tunji-Ojo ,who in our estimation has been doing well since appointed as minister by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu didn’t benefit from Edu’s alleged fake N3 billion social register contract.
“We have seen legitimate documents which showed that the interior minister resigned as a director at New Planet Project Limited nearly five years ago.
“Our investigation further revealed that New Planet Project Limited, with registration number 804833, was said to have been registered on March 3, 2009 with a Certified True Copy of the Corporate Affairs Commission documents obtained ,dated August 8, the minister had alongside four others resigned as directors on February 1, 2019.
“Section A contained names of “directors ceasing to hold office” from February 1, 2019. They included Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Abimbola Tunji-Ojo, Okpanachi George Echiye, Idris Shuaibu, and Hassan Suleiman.
“The document was signed by Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and Akinmulewo Amos Oladapo as Director and Director/Secretary/Authorised officer, respectively and it was further presented for filing at the CAC by one Abu Dennis, on February 6, 2019.
“He confirmed during the interview with a national television that he co-founded the New Planet Project with his wife 15 years ago but resigned and remained a shareholder in the company.
“Of course, public service rules do not prohibit public officers from being shareholders. What public service rules say is that you cannot be a director, of which I had resigned about five years ago.
“We, therefore, urge the President to summon the Minister of Interior, Tunji-Ojo, over his alleged involvement of the controversial N438 million contract scandal involving the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu.”
