The minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has denied any connection to a company reportedly awarded a contract by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
He refuted claims of owning a company that reportedly received N438 million in “consultancy fees” from the suspended minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Betta Edu.
Olubunmi made the clarification on Monday, January 8, while appearing on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
He said: “I am not a signatory to the company. As I’ve always said, I came into public office with a commitment to base my service on sincerity of purpose and openness. I believe that Nigerians don’t deserve to be kept in the dark in terms of public office operations.”
He added: “And actually, I was shocked because the company in question was a company where I was a director. About five years ago, I had resigned from my directorship.”
While admitting to founding the company alongside his wife, the minister said his resignation from the firm was owing to his political ambition.
“I and my wife founded the company 15 years years ago. Well, in 2019, when I got to the House of Representatives, when I won election precisely, I made a change,” he said.
“I had resigned as director of the company to hold office.”
The minister said he is only a shareholder of the company which is not in violation of the law.
“Of course, and to the best of my knowledge, the public service rule does not prohibit public officers from being shareholders,” Olubunmi said.