The National Civil Society Council of Nigeria (NCSCN) has commended the Renewed Hope Government of Presidebt Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in prioritizing the welfare of Nigerian Youths. This could be seen in his Ministerial appointments and other key Organizational Executives, where Young persons are been considered and given the opportunity to deliver the mandate of the Government excellently, examples of such are Hon. Bunmi Tunji Ojo – The Honourable Minister of Interior, and Dr. Betta Edu – The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
During an emergency World Press Conference held in Abuja, Thursday January 11, 2024, The Council raised concern over the Allegations on Hon. Tunji-Ojo over alleged N483.1 fraud, while seeking seeking for leniency from the President towards Dr Betta Edu
While addressing the Press, the Executive Director of NCSCN Amb. Blessing Akinlosotu said in his words “We are concerned members of the civil society who expects good governance and accountability. It is our responsibility to intervene and correct erroneous information in the public space, this we are doing without any prejudice, personal or political interest.
Regarding the case of Minister of Interior and the affected company, there is a clear evidence that the Minister and his wife have resigned from the Board of Directors of the company hereby seizes to control the company. It will be erroneous and out of place to expect a company established to render service and create job opportunities to be shut down just because a former director has decided to serve in the status of a public servant, we frown at this mob judgement and call on Nigerian to restrain
The Minister of Interior has proven that there is hope in the present Government.
Hon. Tunji-Ojo as Minister in charge of Interior and his performance records In less than 3 months has shown uncommon brilliance and exceptional capacity with amazing achievements; such as decongestion of the Correctional Centres across the Federation, launching of the online application processes for passports that will, going forward, reduce human contacts. In another one month, Nigerians in Diaspora will have their launch of same e-application while in another 8 weeks, precisely March 8, Nigerians can do biometrics from the comforts of their homes. All of these reforms will significantly reduce the corruption tendencies surrounding the operations in these agencies.
Also The successful launching of the Automated Passport Registration System;
The automated E-Passport Processing System amongst others e.t.c
In the case of Dr. Betta Edu the Council said it was in her desperate bid to deliver on the mandate of the government which is the renewed hope agenda. The Young Minister made such procedural errors out of haste and passion to deliver on her given assignment.
NCSCN however, blamed the Civil servants who are perpetual beneficiaries of unnecessary bottlenecks for not genuinely supporting this ambitious young people, which was the exact case observed in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
The Council commended the President for actions taken so far towards proper investigations of the allegations of fraud in the affected ministry, while hoping that if the result does not affirm fraud or gross misconduct, the President should be magnanimous enough to give her a second chance in order not to dampen the zeal of the young energetic and innovative Nigerians. The Council is confident that efforts of the President towards improving Security and Economic welfare of Nigerian gradually yielding positive results.
The Civil Society Community also commended the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reduce the size of entourages of Executive, aimed cutting down the cost of Governance, and called on both the Legislature and the Judiciary to follow suit, in other to save our economy, and applauded the CBN Governor, Dr Olayemi Michael Cardoso, for repositioning the banking sector and ensuring good and efficient service delivering in Nigerian Banks today.