On 8 August 2023, during the screening of President Bola Tinubu's ministerial nominees, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia South) sought to ask Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo — nominee for the Federal Cabinet — about a pending EFCC inquiry linking New Planet Project Ltd, a firm in which Tunji-Ojo had been a director, to ₦438.1m traced from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management under the suspended minister Sadiya Umar Farouq. Senate President Godswill Akpabio cut Abaribe off with the now-viral line: 'Honourable Minister, off your mic.' No substantive question on the EFCC matter was permitted. Tunji-Ojo was confirmed the same day and sworn in as Minister of Interior on 21 August 2023. The EFCC subsequently confirmed it had invited Tunji-Ojo in connection with the New Planet payments but, after his appointment as a serving minister, the inquiry effectively stalled. The phrase became shorthand in Nigerian civic discourse for legislative shielding of executive corruption — a moment where the upper chamber, by procedural fiat, chose not to ask where public money had gone.
2023 — Cover-up14.· ₦438.1m question silenced on the floor· Chapter I · Money
'Honourable Minister, Off Your Mic' — Tunji Ojo Screening
During the 8 August 2023 ministerial screening, Senate President Godswill Akpabio cut the microphone of Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe as he tried to question nominee Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo about an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigation linking his firm, New Planet Project Ltd, to ₦438.1m allegedly diverted from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs (the Sadiya Umar Farouq probe). Ojo was confirmed Minister of Interior the same day. The episode entered the record as a parliamentary cover-up — public funds whose disappearance the Senate refused to interrogate.
What it cost — political & economic reality
The political and economic reality
Nigeria in 2023: who was in charge, the cabinet of the day, the GDP, and the crises that defined the period.
President · Fourth Republic
Muhammadu Buhari
2015–2023· APC
National reality
Two recessions (2016, 2020). Multiple naira devaluations. ASUU strike of 2022 closed federal universities for ~9 months. End SARS protests (Oct 2020); Lekki Toll Gate incident. Out-of-school children >18 million by 2022.
Crises of the period
- 2016 recession + FX crisis
- End SARS + Lekki Toll Gate (Oct 2020)
- COVID-19 lockdown (2020)
- 9-month ASUU strike (2022)
- Naira redesign chaos (Q1 2023)
GDP (World Bank)
$494 bn (2015) → $477 bn (2022)
Cabinet (selected portfolios)
- Finance
Kemi Adeosun (2015–18); Zainab Ahmed (2018–23)
- Justice (AGF)
Abubakar Malami (SAN)
- Education
Mallam Adamu Adamu (2015–23)
- Petroleum
Muhammadu Buhari (concurrent); Min. of State Ibe Kachikwu then Timipre Sylva
Sources · Federal Gazette 2015–23 · CBN · NBS
President · Fourth Republic
Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu
2023–present· APC
National reality
Fuel subsidy removed at inauguration (29 May 2023); naira floated June 2023. Inflation at multi-decade highs (>30% YoY in 2024). Student loan scheme (NELFUND) launched 2024. WAEC torchlight exam controversy (2025).
Crises of the period
- Cost-of-living crisis 2023–25
- WAEC torchlight examinations (2025)
- JAMB CBT technical failures (2025)
- Naira free-fall 2023–24
GDP (World Bank)
≈ $363 bn (2023, post-float)
Cabinet (selected portfolios)
- Finance
Wale Edun (Coordinating Minister of the Economy)
- Justice (AGF)
Lateef Fagbemi (SAN)
- Education
Tahir Mamman (2023–24); Tunji Alausa (2024– )
Sources · Federal Gazette 2023– · CBN · NBS
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.