Tunji-Ojo denies owning company that got contract from suspended minister

The Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has rejected the allegations of owning a company that received a contract from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

According to some reports, the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu had paid N438 million as “consultancy fees” to a firm that was supposedly owned by Olubunmi.

However, Olubunmi has refuted the ownership of the said firm.

“I am not a signatory to the company,” he stated on Monday during a live show on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“I have always maintained that I came into public service with a pledge to serve with honesty and transparency. I believe that Nigerians have the right to know what is happening in the public office.”

He continued: “And actually, I was surprised because the company in question was a company where I was a director. About five years ago, I had quit my directorship”.

The minister admitted that he and his wife had established the company 15 years ago, but he had resigned from the company due to his political aspiration.

“My wife and I set up the company 15 years ago. Well, in 2019, when I got elected to the House of Representatives, I made a change,” he said.

“I had stepped down as director of the company to hold office.”

The minister said he is only a shareholder of the company which is not against the law.

“Of course, and as far as I know, the public service rule does not forbid public officers from being shareholders,” Olubunmi said.