Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo profile
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo was a House of Representatives member representing Akoko North East/North West Federal Constituency until he was nominated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to represent Ondo State as a minister.
He was eventually appointed as the Minister of Interior on August 16, 2023.
Who is Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo?
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo is a Nigerian engineer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician.
Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, popularly called BTO, before reaching the age of 24, earned certifications in eighteen professional qualifications.
He is part of the pioneer group of Certified Ethical Hackers trained at the Royal Britannia Training Academy in the United Kingdom.
Age
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo was born on May 1, 1982. He is currently 41 years old and will be 42 years old by May 1, 2024.
Tribe
Bunmi Tunji-Ojo is from the Yoruba tribe, a southwestern tribe in Nigeria. He was born in Oyin Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria.
Family
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo is married to Abimbola Tunji-Ojo. The marriage is blessed with two(2) children.
Education
Primary school education
He attended Ansarudeen Primary School, Oyin Akoko, from 1987 to 1990 and Hakda International School in Kaduna from 1990 to 1992 before completing his primary education at Universal Primary School, Akure, in 1993.
Secondary school education
Bunmi Tunji-Ojo later proceeded to FUTA staff secondary school, Akure for his secondary education, where he was elected the senior prefect in 1998.
His election as the senior prefect of the school marked his elective position
Tertiary education
In 1999, he gained admission into Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to study Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
In 2002, while in his third year at the Obafemi Awolowo University, he proceeded to the University of North London (now London Metropolitan University) where he studied Electronics and Communication Engineering and graduated in 2005.
He obtained a master’s degree in Digital Communication and Networking from the same institution in 2006.
In 2021, Joseph Ayo Babalota University in Ikeji Arakeji, Osun State, bestowed upon him an honorary doctorate degree in Public Administration.
Certifications
He holds certifications in eighteen professional qualifications in ICT, including the prestigious title of being one of the first set of certified ethical hackers from the Royal Britannia IT Training Academy in the United Kingdom before he turned 24 years old.
Career
Before his advent into politics, Tunji-Ojo was the CEO of a leading indigenous ICT consultant company in Nigeria, Matrix IT Solutions Limited, at the age of 24.
He contested for the House of Representatives to represent Akoko North East/Akoko North West Federal Constituency of Ondo State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019 and won.
Upon his inauguration, he mobilized 246 other lawmakers to support the speakership ambition of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, under the forum of first-timers lawmakers, chaired by him.
Months later, he was appointed by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as the Chairman of the House Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
BTO was re-elected by his constituency in 2023 to serve another four-year term but would later resign as a member of the House of Reps when he was nominated as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
However, on August 20, 2023, President TInubu redeployed BTO, a minister-designate at the time, from the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy to the Ministry of Interior.
In his role as the minister of interior, BTO, has proven himself to be one of the best-performing ministers in Tinubu’s cabinet.
Days after his inauguration, Tunji-Ojo gave the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) two weeks to clear the over 200,000 pending passport applications before it.
The minister at the time said that the order was in fulfillment of his promise to remove all bottlenecks in the acquisition of Nigerian passports and other immigration documents.
“Delays in the processing and enrolment of passports in Nigeria has been a source of frustration for citizens, causing significant delays in obtaining crucial travel documents.
“Having to deal with about 200,000 backlogs calls for national emergency.
“As far as I am concerned, the issue of passport is a national emergency; I keep getting emails daily from Nigerians complaining. We cannot continue like this.
“It has become an embarrassment to President Bola Tinubu. I represent him here as your minister.
“That embarrassment is mine now. I am not changing my words. I need the backlog cleared in two weeks.”
Giving an update on the development, he claimed the NIS cleared about 60,000 passport backlogs in four days out of over 200,000 pending passport applications.
Controversy
Accused of corruption while Chairman of House Committee on NDDC
An acting chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Daniel Pondei, in 2020 accused Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, who was the chairman of the house committee on NDDC, of corruption.
Pondei, during an interrogation before the House Committee demanded Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has recused himself from the ongoing investigation of the commission.
“We are not comfortable with the chairman of this committee presiding over a matter he has been accused of.”
He asked the committee chairman, Tunji-Ojo, to recuse himself from the investigation.
“There is no point of order here. As long as he is the chairman of this committee, the NDDC will not make any presentation here,” he said.
When lawmakers intervened and told the NDDC team that nobody could decide its modus operandi, the NDDC management staged a walkout.
The house is conducting an investigative hearing on the alleged financial malfeasance and other activities in the NDDC.
In May, a group accused Mr Tunji-Ojo of having benefited from award of contracts in the commission
BTO, however, described the allegations as shameful and baseless.
Accused of lobbying contract for his company as Minister
Following the suspension of Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, over a N585 million scandal, a company founded by Tunji-Ojo, was reported to have gotten contracts in the ministry, which netizens are of the opinion must have been influenced by the minister using his office and relationship.
Although Tunji-Ojo claimed to have resigned his position as director of the company, New Planet Project Limited, in 2019, he however did not deny he is still a shareholder.
He said “I have to say this, I saw it and I was shocked because the company in question was a company, where I was the director.
“About five years ago, I had resigned my directorship. Yes, I founded the company 10 years ago. In 2019 and when I got to the House of Representatives, when I won the election precisely, I resigned. I resigned 4th of February 2019 with a Certified True Copy of Corporate Affairs Commission as far back as 2019 to prove this.”
Tunji-Ojo, who said he came into public office knowing fully well that Nigerians would ask questions, charged relevant agencies to probe the contract processes.
He added, “I do not run the company. I don’t have any knowledge of the contract. I am not a signatory to any account. I am not a director of the company.
“The company is a limited liability company, which is a private entity. So if the company is a private entity, of course, I am still a shareholder, and to the best of my knowledge public service rule does not prohibit public officers from being shareholders.
“What public service rule says is that you cannot be a director, of which I had resigned about five years ago.
“I have no business with it, absolutely no business. Because I am not involved in the day-to-day running of the company. I do not pursue jobs for the company. I do not bid for the company. I am not a signatory to the company’s account. I am not involved.
“So the company is an entity on its own. If then, the question should be was the job given to the company? If the answer is yes. Then the question is did they follow due process? It is a yes. Did the company deliver on the job? If it’s a yes. Then number three is that they did deliver in line with the agreement of the contract? If it is a no, then they should be sanctioned by the book”.
He would later be summoned to Aso Rock by President Tinubu over the N438m as a consultancy fee to the company, New Planet Project Limited.
“The company, New Planet Project Limited was one of the numerous consultants awarded contracts from N3 billion given out by the suspended minister for the National Social Register contract”.
Disclaimer
The information in this article was curated from online sources. NewsWireNGR or its editorial team cannot independently verify all details.
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