Former Minister of Women Affairs, Uju-Ken Ohanenye, on Wednesday said she has no regrets over some actions she took as minister.
Since her appointment in August 2023, Ohanenye has been marred by controversy in office, including her threat to sue the United Nations (UN) for allegedly mismanaging funds meant for Nigeria.
She was fired by President Bola Tinubu on October 23, alongside four other ministers at the time – Lola Ade-John (Tourism), Jamila Bio Ibrahim (Youth Development), Tahir Mamman (Education) and Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo (Housing and Urban Development).
Two months later, she weighed in on some issues regarding her stay in office, saying she did her best as minister within the year she held sway at the Women Affairs Ministry.
“I have a responsibility given to me to man that place and make sure things go right. I wouldn’t have tolerated anybody trying to rubbish deceit given to me,” she said on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“There must be an impact on people. I’m glad that I didn’t give such chance and I have no regret in the way I did my job. That was the highest way I would have done that.”
During the interview, she spoke on some donations on October 15 made by many Nigerians to help some vulnerable Nigerians.
According to her, she was sacked as minister two weeks after the ministry raked in over N200 million.
“The programmes I initiated like the mobile courts, going to rescue small girls hawking on the streets, I did not have money for that because it wasn’t part of what was budgeted for.
“When I called on Nigerians, I was so surprised a lot of them gathered at the villa and donated money to this effect. They were very happy to support it.
Unfortunately, not up to two weeks after the donations, I was sacked. When that happened, there was no way I could use that money. I asked the secretary in charge to write to the bank to do a reversal of the funds,” she added.
