Zero Tolerance for Corruption, an anti-corruption Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has asked Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu,to match his words with action in the fight against corruption.

The organisation warned Tinubu of the consequences of paying lip service with his fight against and stopping using propaganda, adding that the war against corruption could only be won when firm and decisive action is applied, as this will indicate that truly he is ready to fight the evil that has destroyed all fabrics of the Nigerian society.

According to the Zero Tolerance for Corruption, Tinubu should start his war against corruption from offices that his loyalists occupied during eight years of Buhari’s administration, particularly the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs). This is an Office which is being funded by the Federal government and some international institutions.

The organisation recalled what President Tinubu said while commissioning the rail project in Lagos last week that nobody can stop him from fighting corruption.

“We want President Tinubu to beam his searchlight on OSSAP-SDGs headed by one of Tinubu’s loyalists and political daughters, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire. The woman is heading an office which is stink of corruption, mismanagement of public funds and diversion of public assets.

“We at Zero Tolerance for Corruption believe Orelope-Adefulire has a lot of issues to explain before Nigerians especially how she utilized billions of Naira that was budgeted for her office since 2016 till up to date.

“She must tell Nigerians how a multi-million-naira contract was awarded for the supply of buses to some schools in the southwest of Nigeria in 2021, but the buses were not supplied until a newspaper report blew open the fraud and in the wake of the media reports, used and rickety buses that could endanger the lives of thousands of students in those schools were hurriedly supplied to the schools in January 2024. The supplies were quickly done in other to cover up the fraud.

“We understood through the media report that leadership of the House of Representatives was part of the school bus scandal as revealed by the Secretary of Program at OSSAP-SDGs, Mr Ahmad Kawu. The leader of the House of Reps was allegedly used the buses as his constituency project.

“It was sad to know that the new buses which were paid for by OSSAP-SDGs in 2021 could get to the beneficiary schools three years later in 2024 after they had been used and become rickety.

“Zero Tolerance for Corruption wants the President to probe the school bus scandal. It’s so sad that Orelope-Adefulire, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, could involve herself in this kind of scandal that could endanger the lives of the school children.

“If President Tinubu wants Nigeria to take him seriously, he should begin his war with Orelope-Adefulire for her to explain to Nigerians what happened to the buses between 2021 and 2024, and why she paid for the buses that were not delivered.

“Tinubu should start his war against corruption from his close associates, who Orelope-Adefulire is one of them.

“We want to assure Nigerians that Zero Tolerance for Corruption has since petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on this scandal. We have also escalated the petition to the United Nations office in Nigeria, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Transparency International and some international anti-corruption agencies.

“We are waiting for the EFCC to act on the petition. Nigerians should be assured that if nothing comes out from the EFCC on this Orelope-Adefulire:s matter, we will have no choice but to approach a competent law court to compel the EFCC to probe OSSAP-SDGs and bring all those involved to book,” said Sunday Akintoye, the Program Coordinator at Zero Tolerance for Corruption.

It will be recalled that Orelope-Adefulire was Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Sustainable Development Goals from 2016 to 2023. She was reappointed again by President Tinubu.

She was a former Commissioner for Women Affairs when Tinubu was the Governor in Lagos State. Orelope-Adefulire was appointed Chairman Finance Committee of the Women Wing of the Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organization.