Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Mr. Darlington Nwauju, has decried a publication by Concerned Nigerians in the Diaspora United Kingdom (CND-UK), in which they demanded the suspension of the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Nwauju, in a statement on Thursday, said the call for the suspension of one of the best-performing ministers in the President Bola Tinubu administration was a ‘most unpatriotic call’, saying ‘it is concerning that the CND-UK has made itself available to be used by desperate political actors to splash all sorts of inanities in the media.’
Nwauju condemned CND-UK’s claim that Tunji-Ojo was allegedly leveraging on his influence alongside other key figures in government to dominate political structures in some parts of the country ahead of 2027 general election.
According to the APC chief, that claim by the CND-UK was ‘the height of preposterousness and idle talk, as politics itself is all about who gets what, when and how.’
Nwauju said: ‘So long as the Minister’s activities as a politician does not go beyond minimum acceptable benchmarks of conduct as a person and standard practice as a public office holder, how does involving in politics stand in the way of the CND-UK? How does that stop them from supporting their own preferred politicians? Is CND-UK trying to vitiate the rights of Dr Tunji-Ojo to associate with other Nigerians?
‘Looking at remarks by this group about marketing Nigeria, I ask which Minister in the current cabinet has been a better salesman of the Nigerian brand through his commitment to duty, innovative ideas, frugality and even exceeding revenue targets than Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo?
‘I do not think it is out of place to ask Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to critically examine the patriotism quotient of the so called CND-UK. This group never made any sort of advocacies earlier before now to draw public attention to the shameful crisis we face in our passport application/issuance processes but someone stepped in together with his team and turned around that situation.
‘This group made reference to the 2020 investigations of the NDDC under Prof Pondei. Yours truly was part of that investigation and it is incorrect to say that Prof Pondei staged a walkout on the House Committee. Rather, Prof Pondei collapsed under the weight of questions and evidences he could clearly not contradict or explain!
‘Making reference to a report by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) on this topic is an incoherent thing to do and smacks of unseriousness and lack of due diligence on the part of CND-UK.
‘Without any shred of doubt, Nigeria’s image has been positively marketed owing to the transformation recorded by the Interior Ministry and not what this group is struggling to convey.’
The Rivers APC spokesman challenged the CND-UK to explore the FOI Act by getting details of the ownership status of New Planet Project Ltd as at the moment Dr Tunji-Ojo assumed office as Minister. This will help the group discontinue the needless merry-go-round and latching on straws.