No Regrets For My Removal As Minister, Tinubu Can’t Purposely Hurt Me — Kennedy-Ohanenye

Former Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has said she has no regrets over her removal from office, insisting that President Bola Tinubu could not have deliberately acted to hurt her.

Kennedy-Ohanenye made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm, where she reflected on her time in office, her leadership style, and the circumstances surrounding her dismissal.

“I have no regrets to date. If I could go back in time, I think I didn’t do enough; I should have been harder. It is even difficult to rule Nigerians.

“The president is working, the governors are working, but what are Nigerians doing in between? If you want to work in this country, you must go offline and be very firm. If you don’t, you will end up achieving nothing,” she said.

She added that while she was not the President, she ensured that nothing improper occurred within the scope of her responsibilities.

“The particular office I was given, I did not allow anything anyhow to happen there,” she said.

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Responding to criticism of her conduct while in office, Kennedy-Ohanenye defended her approach, saying she could not pretend or compromise her convictions in the name of diplomacy.

“There is no way I could have held that portfolio pretending. What you saw was who I am. I would not say I was erratic or undiplomatic. Being diplomatic does not mean agreeing to things that are destroying your country. I cannot agree to things I know are harmful,” she said.

According to her, she remains at peace with her actions and decisions while in office.

“That is why I am looking fresher. I am out now, and whatever they are doing there is none of my business. When I was there, I did what made me happy, and my conscience is clear,” she added.

When asked whether she felt President Tinubu was unfair in removing her despite her performance, the former minister said political decisions often involve factors beyond public knowledge.

“In politics, many things go on behind the scenes. All I can assure you is that the President cannot do anything purposely to hurt me. He is proud of me, he loved the way I worked. There must have been something beyond what he could manage at that time,” she said.

The ex-minister stressed that she does not consider her removal a mistake and maintained that she remains on good terms with the President.

“I wouldn’t call it a mistake. There must be more than what he could handle behind my removal. I am still on very good terms with him,” she said.

Kennedy-Ohanenye also disclosed that she is “not thinking” or actively “seeking another political appointment” but remains committed to her advocacy against gender-based violence.

Speaking further, the former minister criticised inefficiencies within the civil service, attributing a significant portion of Nigeria’s challenges to systemic issues.

She stated that “About 70 per cent of Nigeria’s problems come from the civil service,” while noting that the system itself enables such behaviour.

The former minister alleged that budgets approved for her ministry were done without her involvement and claimed that some funds were not released to her during her tenure.

“I carried out some cases with my own funds. I spent about ₦400 million of my personal money after seeing no evidence to show that the $100 million Nigerian women project was done. I did not feel good about it,” she said.

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She claimed the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women Affairs petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against her over an alleged ₦138 million fraud.

“₦138 million, is that the kind of money they steal?” she queried, while insisting that the Federal Government still owes her reimbursement for funds she personally expended.

Kennedy-Ohanenye was appointed Minister of Women Affairs in August 2023 by President Tinubu. During her tenure, she actively focused on women’s economic empowerment and social inclusion.

On October 23, 2024, the President dismissed five ministers, including her, in a cabinet reshuffle. She was notably a female aspirant in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries before stepping down for Tinubu.

In September 2023, she drew criticism after suggesting that schoolchildren should have Fridays free to engage in production activities, a proposal widely condemned as promoting child labour.

She also accused the United Nations of collecting funds on Nigeria’s behalf without proper accountability and threatened legal action if detailed financial records were not provided.

Another backlash followed her handling of a proposed mass wedding of 100 girls in Niger State. While she initially opposed the event, citing violations of the Child Rights Act, she later reversed her stance after stating that the girls were of legal age and not forced.

Kennedy-Ohanenye also faced criticism after a leaked phone conversation revealed her threatening female students who testified in a sexual harassment case involving a University of Calabar professor. She later apologised for the remarks.

In addition, she disrupted several events in Abuja, alleging they were organised without approval from her ministry, including one where she claimed the organiser was impersonating the Ministry of Women Affairs and had been taken into custody by security operatives.

These incidents contributed to the public backlash that preceded her removal from office.