By Progress Godfrey, Abuja.
Following the recent suspension and the ongoing investigation of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, the call for the same treatment to be meted out to the Minister of Interior has gathered momentum.
Recall that the Nigeria Minister of Interior, Honourable Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo was alleged to have been involved in a contract scandal of N438million said to have been awarded to a company allegedly owned by the Minister.
At the forefront of the demand is the All Progressive Congress (APC) Chieftain Dr Darius Gololo who has called on Tinubu to as a matter of urgency kickstart the immediate suspension and investigation of the Interior Minister, just as it has been done to the other erring government appointees.
Speaking to newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, Gololo stressed that failure to suspend the Interior Minister as meted out to Humanitarian Minister Betta Edu will send a wrong signal to the general public.
He said,”What am after here is that once they have suspended the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, Ojo the Minister of Interior also should be suspended because they indicted him of N438 million naira for consultancy, while you are a Minister how can you be a consultant. He has to be suspended because if you don’t suspend him automatically the things doesn’t work. So, he need to be suspended.
Reacting to the opinion by some people that suspending the interior Minister would be a kind of distraction considering the good job he is doing and his position as the foremost Minister of the Tinubu’s administration, Gololo said,”There is nothing like a good job, there is difference between peoples’ fund and a good job. If he is doing a good job, he is not supposed to be indicted of peoples’ fund. Is he the only Minister, hence they indict him he has to leave. That is just the truth.
“There is no way they can indict you as a Minister and not be suspended. So, as am saying when they indicted you, you are supposed to be suspended like any other Minister. If they have suspended the Minister of Humanitarian, so also the Minister of Interior is supposed to be suspended too, pending the investigation. Because there is no way your company will be a consultant while you are a Minister.
“Despite all the denials, it is when the investigation is on that we will know the truth. During Buhari’s regime we had cabals, and in Tinubu’s administration we have cartel. The cartel are there in the villa, if they don’t remove them we will continue having this problem. We will push them out because they are not wishing this government to succeed.
“Those cartel are the ones bringing most of those Ministers, but for now we need Ojo to go on suspension by Mr President. There is no way they can suspend the other woman (Betta Edu), and they cannot suspend him too. Is he untouchable?
“He is supposed to leave as a Minister, then after he is cleared he can go back as a Minister or he goes to Kuje and relax there”.
He added,”I called for the suspension of Betta Edu and Mr President listened. We want him also to listen to this too, to suspend the Interior Minister so that it will be 50/50, so that nobody will say this one is from this side, and this one is from the other side. We are all Nigerians, and we are citizens.
“Ok, they called Sadiya Umar Farouq and she is there, let them also suspendOjo, let him give his statement, let them suspend him, let us know why he should be a Minister and a consultant.
“Any other person involved must be suspended, because when you here about this there are many people. Any person involved in this must go on suspension, even if it is a member of the APC.
“You should also investigate Ojo otherwise it will be injustice”.
Asked whether the APC as a party has any influence in the decision of Mr President to suspend, he said the APC has nothing to say about it, adding that the Ministers are not APC Ministers but Ministers appointed to serve Nigerians.
He lamented that the APC during their campaign promised Nigerians good governance,”We campaigned that we are going to help Nigerians out of poverty but it is now from poverty alleviation to personal alleviation”.