Alleged Fraud: Tunji-Ojo’s CCB invite rescheduled over claim of ‘national assignment’

The invitation of the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, by the Code of Conduct Bureau has been rescheduled to a yet unknown date.

Tunji-Ojo is currently under investigation over alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for public officers following the leak of documents that indicated a company he was its director benefited from contracts approved by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation whose head, Betta Edu, is currently under suspension and investigation for alleged fraud.

A report by Punch indicated that the minister who was scheduled to appear at the at the CCB headquarters, Federal Secretariat, Abuja on Tuesday, to meet with interrogators at 11 am, did not show up at the bureau between 10 am and 1 pm.

Confirming the development in a telephone interview on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the CCB, Veronica Kato, said the minister’s interrogation would be rescheduled for a later date following his memo to the bureau citing national assignment.

“Yes, the minister’s interrogation has been rescheduled. He wrote, asking that it be rescheduled because he has a national assignment, so it has been rescheduled for a later date,” Kato said.

When asked about the next scheduled date, she said there was no specific date yet.

“We don’t have a precise date now, but it has been rescheduled to another day,” she said.

The CCB had invited the embattled minister over the involvement of his company in a ?438 million contract with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

The company, New Planet Projects, allegedly belonging to the minister, benefitted from a contract from the ministry.

A document exclusively obtained by our correspondent on Monday revealed that the CCB invited the minister to appear before it on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, at the CCB headquarters, Federal Secretariat Complex, Abuja.

The document signed by Gwimi S.P, the CCB Director, Investigation and Monitoring, on behalf of the CCB Chairman, Murtala Aliyu, revealed that the bureau’s invitation is hinged on its mandate and powers as enshrined in the Third Schedule, Part 1, 3 (e) of the 1999 Constitution.

The letter addressed to the minister, read, “The bureau is investigating a case of alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers in which your name featured prominently. Consequently, you are invited for an interview scheduled as follows:

“Date: Tuesday, 16th January, 2024. Time: 1100hrs prompt. Venue: CCB Headquarters on 5th Floor, Annex III, Phase I, Federal Secretariat Complex, Abuja.

“This invitation is pursuant to the mandate and powers of the Bureau as enshrined in the Third Schedule, Part I, Paragraph 3 (e) to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. Please be properly guided.”