The Nigeria Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has refuted viral reports that he is a signatory to the company involved in the contract allegations linked with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
A report by an online platform said that a company allegedly owned by Tunji-Ojo allegedly received N438 million as ‘consultancy fees’ from the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu.
Reacting to the allegation in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said, “I am not a signatory to the company.”
The company, New Planet Project Limited, was one of the consultants awarded contracts worth N3 billion given out by the suspended minister for the National Social Register contract.
The social register was created for cash transfers and other social investment programmes.
Lagospost recalls that Edu had been in the news for asking the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein to send public funds to a private account belonging to Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola, identified as a project manager by the minister.
The minister approved N585,198,500 to be disbursed into a personal account in addition to funds for flight tickets and airport taxis for her team from Abuja to Kogi State, even though the latter has no airport.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Monday suspended Edu and ordered an investigation into the alleged fraudulent activities of the minister.