I resigned in 2019 from company that got humanitarian ministry contract, says Tunji-Ojo

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, says he resigned years ago from New Planet Project Limited, a company that got a consultancy contract from the ministry of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation.

Tunji-Ojo spoke on Monday when he appeared on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, to clear the air on the allegations.

“Almost five years ago I resigned as director of the company, so I’m not a director. I resigned on 1st of February, 2019, you can go to the back,” he said.

The company was registered on March 3, 2009 at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) – 10 years before he was first elected as a house of representatives member.

Tunji-Ojo represented Akoko north-east/Akoko north-west federal constituency in Ondo state between 2009 and 2023 before he was appointed as interior minister by President Bola Tinubu.

The interior minister’s name was mentioned in the crisis that has been rocking the humanitarian ministry.

Betta Edu, the suspended minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, has come under scrutiny after a cache of documents were leaked wherein she made an “illegal request” to transfer N585 million to a private bank account and approved flight fares for her ministry staff to Kogi state which has no airport.

Edu said her request followed “due process” but Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant-general of the federation (AGF), to whom she had made the request to transfer the aforementioned sum, said she did not execute it.

Madein said public funds should not be paid into any private bank account as requested by the minister.

All these came after Halima Shehu, was suspended as the chief executive officer (CEO) of National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) by President Bola Tinubu.

Edu had said the leaked documents were an attempt to blackmail her because she exposed a “multi-billion naira” corruption in NSIPA.