Two ministers are currently enmeshed in a broth of allegations of malfeasance. Betta Edu, a medical doctor, who superintended the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior.
Both were accused of illegality either directly or vicariously in the contract bazar and management of idle cash lying fallow in the accounts of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
Edu had in a memo, circulated widely on social media, directed that the sum of N585 million be paid into a private account of a civil servant, Ms Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola, a staff of the ministry. The memo was addressed to Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Dr Oluwatoyin Madein. But Madein was smarter. She gave no heed to the memo, citing public service rule that bars one from making payment into private account.
The Accountant-General said she did not carry out the request of Edu because it violates the principles of accountability and transparency in the management of public finances. A statement issued by Mr Bawa Mokwa, the Director of Press in the AGF’s office, tells it all: “Allocations are released to self-accounting MDAs in line with the budget and such MDAs are responsible for the implementation of their projects and payments for such projects.
“The Ministry was however advised on the appropriate steps to take in making such payments in line with the established payment procedure,” Madein explained.
The AGF, not wanting to be misconstrued, stressed that beneficiaries of projects should be paid through their verified bank accounts, insisting that the principles of accountability and transparency in the management of public finances should be upheld at all times. But Edu would have none of this. She pressed further to have her way. She even pushed harder to have audience with President Tinubu. She was rebuffed.
The second small matter is linked to Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior. This same Edu-led ministry awarded a consultancy contract to the tune of N438 million for the National Social Register to a company named New Planet Projects Ltd. Tunji-Ojo has been linked to the company. He did not deny it. He founded the company but resigned as Director in 2019 when he won election into the House of Representatives. He admitted as much which makes him an ‘honest’ man. But the knot he failed to tie was that he is still a share holder in the same company hence a beneficiary of proceeds, either in profit or otherwise, from the company. The EFCC is digging deeper into these allegations. It is therefore assumed that neither Edu nor Tunji-Ojo is guilty. Any extrapolation at this momemt is just from what both ministers have so far admitted all of which are in the public domain. There is enough prima facie evidence to suggest that they did not behave well. Again, the very fact that both ministers still went about justifying their actions, all of which run contrary to public service rules, advertises them as bad copies for President Tinubu who has never minced words on his commitment to run a scandal-free government, propped up on accountability, integrity, transparency and frugality.
Both ministers are young. Edu at 37 is about the youngest minister. Tunji-Ojo at 41 is among the youngest cabinet members. They both represent the youth fraternity. Both are not neophytes in matters of public service. Edu was a commissioner in her Cross River state among other positions held within her party’s call of duty. Tunji-Ojo as a former House member who had functioned in various committees (including as former chairman of the House committee on Niger Delta Development Commission, remember ‘Minister, off your Mic’ episode?). Both are conversant with the laws and rules that govern the public service space. Paying public money into a private account of a staffer of a ministry or parastatal is contrary to the law. Influencing or awarding contract to yourself or a company you have interest in is deemed as ‘conflict of interest.’
Section 172 of the Constitution enjoins all persons in the public service to conform to the Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct for Public Officers as enshrined in the Fifth Schedule (Part 1) (section1) of the Constitution says that “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.”
Section 2(a) also bars a public officer from “engaging or participating in the running of any private business, profession or trade.”
Tunji-Ojo’s case has a similitude with the case of Professor Barth Nnaji who was appointed Minister of Power in 2010 by President Goodluck Jonathan. While Nnaji was a serving minister, two electricity companies, Afam Power plant and Enugu Distribution Company Limited, were up for sale in the Federal government’s push to privatise the power sector. One of the companies in pole position to win the bid was Geometric Power, founded by Nnaji but from which he had resigned before taking up his ministerial appointment.
When in August 2012 it was discovered that he once had relationship with Geometric Power, he was forced to resign as minister. And after his resignation, the National Council on Privatization (NCP) cancelled the bidding process. Conflict of interest!
Tunji-Ojo and Edu ought to have taken the path of honour: Step aside, resign! But they showed primitive brazenness until Tinubu suspended Edu with alacrity for which the President deserves commendation. With Edu justifiably suspended, Tunji-Ojo does not deserve to hang in there as minister given that he has admitted, and it has been proven, that he has links with New Planet Projects Ltd. Unlike Edu whose memo for transfer of funds was not honoured, in the case of Tunji-Ojo, the money was already domiciled in the account of the company he’s a shareholder and founder. His action is against every grain of the law even before the court hears his case. These are just two exposed cases. Worse matters of sleaze and slew abound in the public service aided, in most cases, by bank officials.
We cannot continue to make laws we do not intend to obey. No nation develops on the rotor of impunity and lawlessness. In Asian countries, Europe and the Americas, cases abound of public office holders who resigned on the basis of mere allegation of misdemeanor. In Japan, prime ministers have resigned just because they were alleged to have engaged in unethical ventures or were no longer working in public interest. Just two years ago, Boris Johnson and a horde of his cabinet members resigned their positions. Johnson was accused of flouting Covid-19 rules when he attended and frolicked at a riotous party thus undermining Covid protocols. If President Tinubu had not suspended Edu, she would still be dancing Azonto and Skelewu all over the place. And you ask: Where is honour? Where is our value as a people? And to think that this is the same Edu that won many hearts with her superlative performance during Senate screening makes the matter both pathetic and pitiful.
But, pause a bit, do you not begin to see a new beginning with Tinubu, a sharp departure from the monumental incompetence that was Buhari’s Presidency? Tinubu has so far shown that he has both spark and spunk. He should comb through the ‘value chain’ of graft which is what the public service has become. Meantime, Tunji-Ojo should as a mark of value and honour step aside. And if I were Edu, I will resign forthwith rather than wait to be sacked.
She should even tender unreserved apology to Nigerians, especially the youths, whose flag she desecrated.
First published in Sunday Sun
