Tunji-Ojo: A Con Artist Or A Reformer?

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo is said to be one of the posterboys of the President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Formerly the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Tunji-Ojo got into office on August 21, 2023, after his screening by the Senate.

Since assumption of office as Minister, there have been several reports as to his personality, credibility and factuality of some of his achievements in the ministry, contract scandals, and the dark spots around his education. Osun Defender in this report beams a searchlight on some of the issues around the Minister, and what Nigerians are saying about the issues on social media. 

Questionable Education?

The Minister claims to have graduated from the University of North London (now London Metropolitan University) where he studied Electronics and Communication Engineering and graduated in 2005. He is said to have also obtained a master’s degree in Digital Communication and Networking from the same institution in 2006.

However, Mr. Tunji-Ojo’s academic credentials is one which begs for answers with alleged discrepancies in his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Certificate. While he was said to have been re-mobilised for the scheme in 2019 after absconding in 2006, the Minister’s receipt of the certificate of the service year he had at an undisclosed PPA in the Federal Capital Territory between November 2019 and November 2020, was in February, 2023.

His claim Osun Defender findings indicate is strange given that he was a sitting member of the House of Representatives during the same period. He was elected into the house in 2019 and re-elected in 2023, representing Akoko North East/Akoko North-West Federal Constituency of Ondo State. But in his explanation, Mr Tunji-Ojo, however, failed to state why his NYSC certificate, a programme he claimed to have completed in 2020, carries February 2023 as the date of issuance.

A PREMIUM TIMES Investigation into the matter revealed that despite the admittance from the NYSC, It is also unclear where Mr Tunji-Ojo served as his Place of Primary Assignment (PPA) during the NYSC programme, and whether he received the monthly allowances paid to corps members.

Some former and present NYSC officials said it is unlikely for the corps to mobilise a serving politician for national service at the same time he or she is in office.

“National service is a full-time job,” one official said, asking not to be named because she is not the official spokesperson of the NYSC. If it turns out that he indeed served while also being a federal lawmaker, those who mobilised him have a lot of explanations to make. He too (Tunji-Ojo) must tell us where he was camped for orientation, where he did his primary assignment, what his community development service was and the bank account through which he was paid his allowances,” the officials said.

Scandals

Off-Your-Mic/Akpabio

Tunji-Ojo was the infamous former chairman of the House of Representatives committee on Niger Delta Development Commission that clashed with the then Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, over allegations of corruption and mismanagement of funds in the commission.

During the televised probe, Akpabio had accused Tunji-Ojo and other members of the National Assembly of benefiting from contracts awarded by the NDDC, a claim he denied and challenged Akpabio to provide evidence.

The probe also witnessed a dramatic scene when Akpabio was asked to “off his mic” by the then committee chair after he refused to answer questions from the committee.

Tunji-Ojo later stepped down as the chairman of the committee, after much hues and cries from the public, perceived by many as ‘face saving.’

Humanitarian Affairs Ministry/Social Register Contract

In December 2023, news filtered that the Minister’s company, New Planet Project Limited, allegedly got N438.1 million from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation under suspended minister Betta Edu for consultancy services.

The company was one of the numerous consultants awarded contracts from N3 billion given out by the suspended minister for the National Social Register Contract created for cash transfers and other social investment programmes.

In a document posted by the editor of a media platform, Pointblank News, Jackson Ude, Tunji-Ojo’s New Planet Project Limited was initially paid N279 million for verification of the list and another N159 million for the same purpose.

An independent check by newsmen had revealed that the firm has the interior minister and his wife, Abimbola as directors. One Gbadamasi Gbadamasi Clement is also listed as the secretary of the company which was registered on March 3, 2009, with registration number 804833. The action was perceived to be against the Nigerian Constitution and Code of Conduct law, which in sections 5 and 6, bars public officers from putting themselves in positions of conflict of interest and prevents them from partaking in any business other than farming.

A source told SaharaReporters that the interior minister may have got the contract through his former aide and coordinator of the National Programme Manager, Grant For Vulnerable Groups, Thalis Apalowo. Apalowo served as legislative aide to Tunji-Ojo while he was representing Akoko North Federal constituency at the National Assembly. “He was the one who lobbied for his appointment as coordinator of programme under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, he is his close aide,” the source told SaharaReporters. Apalowo was one of the minister’s advanced team who received N2,515,000 for DTA for five nights, local running @30% of DTA, for flight tickets and airport taxis to Kogi — a state with no airport.

The embattled Minister, while reacting to the allegation in an interview on Channels TV on Monday, said, “I am not a signatory to the company. “And actually, I was shocked because the company in question was a company where I was a director. About five years ago, I resigned from my directorship.”

Documents of his resignation from the board of the New Planet Project Limited in 2019, with an official communication to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), also emerged online after Tunji-Ojo displayed it on television.

Findings by Osun Defender, however, revealed that Mr. Tunji-Ojo is a Person with Significant Control/Beneficial as at the 14th of November, 2023, and a major shareholder in the company, according to the CAC.

The Passport Automation Process Controversy

On Monday, January 8, Tunji-Ojo announced on his verified X handle, the official launch of the ‘Complete’ Automation Application Process for the Nigerian Passport by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), one of the agencies under his Ministry.

While launching the passport application automation process in Abuja, the Minister noted that the new reform seeks to redefine how citizens enrol and procure the international passport in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

With an emphasis on convenience, reduced processing time, and an overall seamless experience, the Minister assured the public that this new solution will enhance national security and data protection.

The announcement was, however, met with mixed reactions from Nigerians, especially, those who were not aware of the existence of an automated process for passport application.

Most Nigerians who hailed the development on social media, were taken down memory lane of how the passport application automation process began, and the efforts of those who had taken the process to the level of upgrade the present administration of President Tinubu, Minister Tunji-Ojo and CG Immigration, Caroline Adepoju met and further improved on.

Some Nigerians on X berated the Minister for showcasing what has been in operation for over 2 years as new, stressing that the automation process of application that was just launched is an update to the one kick-started by a former Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau (Rtd) and the then Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede, sustained and improved by his successor, Rauf Aregbesola.

Auwal Musa @auwal_musam wrote: “I could apply for a passport from the comfort of my bed in 2021. While it’s great to see the progress made, it would be more accurate to say that Nigerians can now apply for their passports more conveniently, rather than implying that online application is a new thing.

“It is good to see further improved and streamlined online processes. I expect there will be continuous improvements to make the process even smoother.”

Also, another Netizen @OnyedikaAnambra said that, “This has been in existence. There has always been an option to fill out your form online, and  visit the Immigration office for biometrics. It’s not true automation if one still has to visit the immigration office for biometrics. British people apply for passports from home and complete biometrics with their phones.  This dude is just interested in PR.”

Osun Defender had on January 2, 2024, reported that the new stage, which is continuation of a long standing innovation of previous administrations in the passport application and processing process started in 2016 would allow Nigerians to apply and complete their passport application process online without human contact.

While in office, Aregbesola took the initiative a step higher by improving on the online passport application process Babandede started under Dambazzau.

The initiative saw the introduction of an online portal where Nigerians applied for the citizenship integrity document, paid online (to eliminate the role of middlemen and corrupt officials) and got appointment dates for their biometrics capture at registration points across the country.

In addition, to address the skyrocketing demand for the passport by Nigerians, most especially, those seeking to relocate abroad, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari through the former Minister built and commissioned passport front offices, and ideated the next stage of the process, to begin next week. It also launched an e-passport portal, especially for Nigerians beyond the shores of the country, as well as providing a tracking portal for those who have applied and completed biometrics, to ascertain when their passports are ready for collection.

In addition, when the Federal Government under former President Muhammadu Buhari directed the harmonisation of Nigerians’ data as a measure to stem the tide of insecurity in 2021, the then Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who chaired the Data Harmonisation Committee of the federal government alongside his colleague in the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, ensured that the Nigeria Immigration Service keyed into harmonising data from the NIMC (NIN) to the passport application process.

The new stage of the automation process for passport application was to commence with pilot tests in Gwagwalada and Lagos before the end of the Buhari administration, but could not hold due to administrative bottlenecks, which according to social media users, Tunji-Ojo kicked off on Monday January 7, 2024.

Further Reactions

A social media influencer, Segun Awosanya popularly known as @segalink controverted a fellow influencer, @KemKem who had earlier posted about the innovation under the former administration, with the facts from the matter.

KemPatriot @KemKem had said: The seemingly impossible is now fully possible.  Application & Payment for Passport, now online from the 8th of January. HM Interior  @BTOofficial, only the MostHigh can reward you. #KemKem.

@segalink reacted to the tweet saying, ‘Haba this is not NEW ma. Unless there are new elements to the already working system. This has been the existing protocol put in place under the leadership of @babandedem and it has always been online at the same price. 

‘’The Minister’s alignment with an already efficient and sustainable innovation shouldn’t be sold as a new innovation. The passport system has always been automated. You can come to passport centres unless you have an appointment having fully fulfilled due diligence online. 

‘’This initiative was designed with stakeholders carried along since 2016 and has proven to be effective and efficient. We monitor this every quarter and every delay in the process has been attributed to political interference by internal forces. The technology works and the queue system is commendable globally. The TRUTH is out there.’’

Awosanya’s tweet was further corroborated by other social media users.

@AyoKent posted, ‘’Aregbesola promised to cut off the rife corruption of officers interfering with the process, and fulfilled the same. Yet, elements in the system still frustrated the process. The present online platform, has several technical traps, deliberately misleading information and vague reqs.’’

@MrHackMed said, ‘’Since 2014, I’ve obtained and renewed my passport online, visiting the HQ for biometrics after printing my applications and submitting to “them”. Perhaps the online process is being enforced as the only option to reduce human contact that has shrouded the online processing.’’

‘’It’s definitely not new. My greatest amazement is the amount of accolades pouring in from ignorant Nigerians. This has been the process for over 2 years. It’s just unfortunate that Nigerians and research don’t see eye to eye’’ – @SirreMuel

@Dhamexakins also contributed noting that: ‘’You didn’t bring anything new to the table,that’s the same process I embark when ogbeni @raufaregbesola what a minister, sir you didn’t do anything to be praise for,I did mine march late year the same link and got my appointment online and collected my passport in 3 weeks.’’

Osun Defender also observed that most influencers, who had posted the efforts of previous administration, also posted the upgrading of the automation process as a completely new process, which many believe is misleading and outright mis-information.