Interior Minister: I am not a signatory to firm associated with Beta Edu, amidst N585m controversy

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, has denied being a signatory to the corporation implicated in the contract claims against the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

According to an internet article, Tunji-Ojo’s company allegedly received N438 million in ‘consultancy fees’ from Betta Edu, the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.

In an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today, he responded to the allegations by saying, “I am not a signatory to the company.”

 

'I am not a signatory to the company', Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo responds to the contract allegations linked with his former company and the ministry of humanitarian affairs. #PoliticsToday#CTVTweets pic.twitter.com/okXSFY2kV3

— Channels Television (@channelstv) January 8, 2024

New Planet Project Limited was one of the consultants awarded N3 billion in contracts for the National Social Register by the suspended minister.

The social register was developed to facilitate cash transfers and other social investment programs.

Recall that Edu made headlines for requesting that the Accountant General of the Federation, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein, transfer public cash to a private account owned by Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola, who the minister claimed as a project manager.

The minister had approved the disbursement of N585,198,500.00 into a personal account.

It granted cash for her team’s airplane tickets and airport taxis from Abuja to Kogi State, despite the fact that the latter does not have an airport.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu dismissed Edu on Monday and ordered a probe into the minister’s suspected fraudulent acts.