Ondo Community Accuses Interior Minister Tunji-Ojo Of Diverting NDDC Jobs, Projects To His Akoko Constituency

Residents of Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State have accused Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, of orchestrating the diversion of employment slots and development projects meant for the Niger Delta communities to his Akoko constituency.

Community sources who spoke to SaharaReporters alleged that Ese-Odo was completely excluded from a recent employment exercise conducted by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), despite being part of the Niger Delta region.

“There was an employment exercise done by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), but Ese-Odo has not been captured in the employment opportunities,” one of the sources said.

The source further revealed that community leaders had repeatedly engaged Tunji-Ojo over the alleged marginalisation, but claimed that no action had been taken.

“All the employees are from Akoko and Akure, not even one Ese-Odo person was given an opportunity,” the source added.

Beyond employment concerns, the Ese-Odo people also accused the minister of manipulating project allocations within the NDDC to favour his political stronghold, allegedly breaching established guidelines.

“By the sharing formula put in place in the NDDC, 20% of the 66 projects were to be shared amongst the 16 local governments that are outside the Niger Delta mandate area,” the source told SaharaReporters.

“The number of projects would have been about 13. Since there was no board in place in the NDDC during this period, Hon. Bunmi Ojo doubled as the Ondo State Representative and the Chairman of the House Committee on the NDDC.

“He broke all the known guidelines put in place by the NDDC and became a law unto himself, manipulating the award of contracts solely to his Federal Constituency.

“Hon. Bunmi Ojo abused the privileges of his office and bastardised the guidelines put in place at the NDDC. He exhibited unprecedented nepotism with reckless abandon!”

The Ese-Odo people further claimed that projects meant for oil-rich communities were fully funded in Akoko, while the Niger Delta areas were left without any provision.

“To worsen the situation for the Niger Delta Areas, Tunji Ojo used his position as the Chairman of the House Committee on NDDC to fully fund all the projects he allocated to Akoko and made no provision whatsoever for the projects in the Niger Delta Area,” a source said.

“It was not enough for Tunji Ojo to divert the projects for the Niger Delta Area to his communities in Akoko; he went further and gave virtually all the employment due to Ondo State to his kith and kin in Akoko.

“Out of the 36 employments allocated to Ondo State, Tunji Ojo ensured that 27 of them were allotted to his people in Akoko.”

The source described the situation as an extreme case of abuse of office and nepotism.

“These are just a few of the evils Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo meted out on the people of the Niger Delta Area of Ondo State by using his position as the Chairman of the House Committee on the NDDC,” the source said.

Tunji-Ojo was a member of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, representing the Akoko North East/Akoko North West Federal Constituency of Ondo State from 2019 to 2023.

During his first term in the House, he served as Chairman of the House Committee on the NDDC.

Meanwhile, the community has appealed directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and investigate the allegations.

“We appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save us from the hands of Olubummi Tunji-Ojo, so that he will not inflict further injuries on us,” the source said.

“We plead with Mr. President to direct appropriate agencies to look into these issues.

“We also plead with the Speaker of the House of Representatives to save us from the untold hardship Tunji-Ojo subjected us to by appointing a person from the Niger Delta Area to man the House Committee on the NDDC,” the source added.

Efforts to obtain the minister’s reaction and comments on the allegations were unsuccessful, as his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Alao Babatunde, did not respond to WhatsApp messages sent by SaharaReporters and also did not answer phone calls placed to his line.

Meanwhile, when contacted, the Managing Director of the NDDC, Mr. Samuel Ogbuku, told SaharaReporters that the Commission’s Ondo State representative is best positioned to comment on the allegations.

“I will appreciate it if you can reach out to the State Representative of NDDC on the Governing Board to address the issues since he is from the area in question,” Ogbuku said.

However, at the time of filing this report, SaharaReporters was unable to reach the Ondo State representative of the NDDC Board for comments. (SaharaReporters)