PDP demands suspension of Interior Minister
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded the immediate suspension, investigation and possible prosecution of the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo over his alleged receipt of N438 million poverty alleviation fund.
The party made the call in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba in Abuja on Tuesday.
President Bola Tinubu had suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu over related issues.
Ologunagba described as inexcusable, the use of a company to which Tunji-Ojo has interest to allegedly siphon funds meant for poor Nigerians.
He said that the fund was allegedly diverted under the guise of consultancy fee for unsubstantiated verification of households in the country.
Ologunagba said that the PDP demanded President Tinubu to take immediate action to protect the resources meant for the wellbeing of poor Nigerians from further plundering.
He said that this should be done by suspending the interior minister over the allegation and hand him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation like his suspended counterpart.
He said that Nigerians were appalled by the excuse by Tunji-Ojo in claiming that he had no interest in the company despite his confession of owning huge shares in the firm.
“The PDP challenges the interior minister to publish the details of the due process certification documents, the scope of job, the experts and modules used as well as particulars of the 11 million Nigerian households claimed to have been verified within a space of one month,” he said.
Ologunagba added that the only way President Tinubu could reassure Nigerians was to immediately relieve Tunji-Ojo of his appointment and allow for an independent inquiry into the disbursement of the N438 million.
He said action should be taken to not only expose and prosecute all those involved in the alleged scam but also to recover and channel the money to the wellbeing of Nigerians.
