The Presidency on Wednesday announced the ‘discharge’ of six ministers, the first cabinet shuffle since President Bola Tinubu came into power on May 29, 2023.
The ministers dismissed are Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, Lola Ade-John, Prof. Tahir Mamman, Abdullahi Gwarzo and Jamila Ibrahim.
Kennedy-Ohanenye, a lawyer and film producer, however topped the list as she has been the most vocal of ministers relieved of their appointments.
She joined the race for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the only female aspirant but later stepped down for the eventual winner, Tinubu.
Below are five controversies Kennedy-Ohanenye got involved in during her stint as minister:
CRASHING ABUJA EVENTS
Kennedy-Ohanenye had a penchant for disrupting women-centric events in the Federal Capital tlTerritory.
In August, she disrupted two events organised “without her permission” in Abuja.
During the first event tagged “Unveiling the Power of Women and Food Security,” held without the ministry’s approval, she said the organiser had been taken into custody by the Department of State Services (DSS) for alleged impersonation of the ministry.
“There is an impersonating thing going on here. The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs did not plan this. The lady, I have arrested her. Right now, she is with the DSS.
“After we wrote that we were cancelling, the president approved that we should cancel until further notice; she still went ahead to print this thing,” she said in a video posted on her X page.
MARRIAGE SAGA WITH NIGER STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER
In May, Kennedy-Ohanenye made the headlines when she rebuked the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, who planned to marry off 100 orphans in his constituency as part of measures to alleviate their sufferings.
The minister dragged Sarkindaji to court but later withdrew the suit, saying the ministry in collaboration with the Speaker and traditional rulers from the state, were already investigating the ages of the girls to ascertain if they are within the stipulated age for marriage.
PRO-CHILD LABOUR COMMENTS
At the Anambra Investment Summit in September 2023, Kennedy-Ohanenye advocated for the use of school children as workers to manufacture essentials such as toothpicks, sanitary pads, cotton buds, and matchboxes.
“I am pleading for us to look into more production of some of these things in our society. Especially, the necessities like the matchbox, the toothpick, the cotton buds, the sanitary pads and stuff like that,” she said.
“Let us introduce urban development in the schools. If we can think about using Fridays as free, for our children to start producing things just like they do in China. In China, even young kids get involved in production.”
Child rights activists condemned her comments.
UNICAL SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE
In 2023, Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Cyril Ndifon, was suspended for alleged sexual harassment of students.
A video recording of Kennedy-Ohanenye insinuating that the students were being manipulated by some people to get Ndifon out of office went viral.
In the clip, she threatened the students of UNICAL with dire consequences including imprisonment if they continued to pursue the case of sexual harassment against Ndifon.
In September 2023, the minister tendered an apology over her comments after the backlash.
THREATEN UNITED NATIONS WITH LAWSUIT
Barely two months after she assumed office, Kennedy-Ohanenye, in October 2023, threatened to sue the United Nations (UN) for allegedly mismanaging funds meant for Nigeria.
She did not specify the amount allegedly mismanaged while addressing a press conference on October 16, 2023.
“If you don’t give us this account, at least let Nigerians see what is going on, then you (UN) apologise to them,” she said.
“From 16th of October to November 15, if we don’t get those reports for Nigerians to see, we are heading to court. (They have) from 16th October to November 8.
“They will get our pre-action letter that is to prepare that by 15th we are heading to court and I am promising Nigerians that by 15th you will hear the lawsuit number.”
Commentators, however, knocked her for being ignorant of international law, as the UN enjoys immunity from lawsuits.
