NewStats: 3,259,475 , 8,170,232 topics. Date: Sunday, 25 May 2025 at 08:16 AM 3w1m5t

No fewer than 50 s operated by influencers have been engaged to promote Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, on social media, FIJ can report.

Since taking up a ministerial role in the government of President Bola Tinubu in August 2023, Tunji-Ojo has made frequent appearances in the media, discussing his efforts to ease international port registration and collection for Nigerians.

His public image in the media remained spotless until a contract scandal involving a company he personally founded became public knowledge in the first week of January.

Evidence emerged on January 7 that Tunji-Ojo’s New Planet Project Limited obtained a consultancy project from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, then headed by the troubled suspended minister Betta Edu. The scandal left him dusting his files to find a Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) filing showing that he had resigned his directorship from the company since 2019, but the CAC did not reflect the change on its public portal. Nevertheless, he remains a shareholder in the organisation.

The discovery prompted calls for his suspension and investigation just like Edu, but these calls were swiftly countered by an army of social media influencers and some self-acclaimed civil society groups with no digital footprints until the scandal.

FIJ’s findings have now shown that Tunji-Ojo runs a well-oiled social media campaign, particularly on X, executed by a supervised network of hired influencers.

MODE OF OPERATION

Their operational mode is consistent with established social media coordinated campaign trends. Unlike what many might believe, most of the posts about the minister are not from spontaneous or self-motivated X s. In understanding how they work, FIJ looked at the timing and semantics of the posts, and the general behaviour of the s.

FIJ observed that once Tunji-Ojo posted, these influencers took it up and crafted their own contents around the subject, quoting his statements as they deemed fit or as determined in their central operation chambers.

As hired influence operators, they reposted and quoted tweets by the minister. They also curated their own content as a strategy to increase the likelihood of a greater reach — the higher the visibility, the more the strength of dominance the minister enjoyed on the platform.

Hashtags are central to influence operations. At least five hashtags — #RenewedHope, #NewDawnWithBTO, #RenewedHope, #NewDawnWithBTO, #SpotLightOnBTO and #BTO4RenewedHope — have been created and associated with the minister. These hashtags are mentioned in their posts to provide a metric for discoverability and monitor their effectiveness, and keep a tab on the trend of their paymaster’s activities.

Although #NewDawnWithBTO was created in 2023, it only became frequent on X after the scandal, which also coincided with the launch of an online port application system by the minister. Between January 8 and 20, it appeared in more than 430 posts.

FIJ did not reckon with several other s that post about the minister without any of the hashtags mentioned above. This is because those s might have been his mere irers with no material motivation.

FINANCIAL COST
Evidently, some of these persons are not mere party ers or the ministers irers, but influencers who amplify information not for ideological reasons but for pecuniary gains, regardless of information credibility. Some influencers such as @lollylarry1, @jarmari01, @_chiefagbabiaka, @olaniranfaith, @abasisom and @samzyVG, most of whom used false identities, declared in their bios to be career influencers.

FIJ’s findings, however, showed that @lollylarry1 is a key figure handling the network. of the network exist in two broad categories: paid and unpaid. FIJ learned from a source that she was asking some X s, unaware she had been contracted to promote the minister, to help her post the minister’s activities on X.

A peep into her further showed that she was involved in anti-EndSARS campaign by the government. She was also once involved in a social media campaign for Arora Akanksha, a young woman who aspired to become the United Nations’ Secretary-General in 2021.

Apart from that, some of the s have X verification badges. It also appears some influencers have more than one for promotional purposes. Out of the 50 s, 22 have at least 1,000 followers, the highest being 154.6 thousand followers. Their moderate followings indicate they are mostly minor influencers.

For this reason, the size of each influencer’s followers determines how much they get. According to an article by OG Capital Finance, a micro-business financing firm, an average minor influencer earns between N30,000 and N60,000 per campaign or depending on the period of activity. This helps to understand how much goes into the minister’s influencing campaign alone monthly. This is aside his statutory media aides remuneration.

However, the minister might not be aware of this network or be responsible for remunerating them directly, according to Rosemary Ajayi, the founder of Digital Africa Research Lab and a researcher who has experience exploring the weaponisation of social media in Nigeria.

Ajayi told FIJ: “In Nigeria, there is a huge marketplace for dodgy social media ‘influencers’. However, one cannot conclusively state that this group of s identified by FIJ have been paid to promote Tunji-Ojo without further investigation.

“A quick analysis of many of the s shows them to be ers of the ruling party predating Tunji-Ojo’s ministerial appointment. And in a situation where there is evidence to show that participants have been paid, it is possible that the perceived beneficiary is completely unaware of such campaign as it may have been sponsored by associates or aides hoping to curry his favour.”

Interestingly, Tunji-Ojo has a record of maintaining extravagant political operations. As a lawmaker that represented the Akoko North East/North West Federal Constituency from 2019 to 2023, he appointed over 220 individuals as special advisers, special assistants and personal assistants in one swoop.

https://fij.ng/article/confirmed-over-50-influencers-laundering-interior-minister-tunji-ojos-image-on-x/

Since taking up a ministerial role in the government of President Bola Tinubu in August 2023, Tunji-Ojo has made frequent appearances in the media, discussing his efforts to ease international port registration and collection for Nigerians.

This Minister appears to be the most performing Minister in this istration based on his performance on port registration and collection. Honestly, when thinking deeply, what we call performance by the minister is nothing but a negative energy.
We are all rushing and jostling to have the international port for the sole reason of escaping from the unpalatable conditions of the country. If our country is good, the ease of reg and collection of collecting the international should be the least of the yardsticks in rating the performance of the Minister of Interior having agencies under it (apart from International port registration and collection)

While discussing with many Scottish here, I realised that many of them don’t have an international port nor think of having one in the future. They only need the international port for international vacations, they rarely relocate.

The Minister should get this to his brain, he could only hide the truth using the media propaganda for a while, the truth can’t be hidden forever.

Nice

Even on Nairaland they are more.

All the s promoting were all created late last year. Same day, same month.

I now wonder if he's contesting with anyone for his ministerial seat.

It's obvious he want to contest for a position later

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Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo didn't have to do that. We have to give that man some credit because he is doing a great job. Before now, I thought that the ministry of interior was established only to be declaring public holidays.

Im sorry to say, I've always seen this man as a scam with paid praise singers

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This guy cleared port backlogs. International port is now swift and easier to collect without paying bribes

Tracka:
Corruption in high places

try to see possible

I guess the influencers stopped him from clearing the backlog of ports.

Ajayi told FIJ: “In Nigeria, there is a huge marketplace for dodgy social media ‘influencers’. However, one cannot conclusively state that this group of s identified by FIJ have been paid to promote Tunji-Ojo without further investigation.

“A quick analysis of many of the s shows them to be ers of the ruling party predating Tunji-Ojo’s ministerial appointment. And in a situation where there is evidence to show that participants have been paid, it is possible that the perceived beneficiary is completely unaware of such campaign as it may have been sponsored by associates or aides hoping to curry his favour.”

Allege then swallow.

This is junk journalism.

Mr Ojo

The hardworking minister.

Abeg, free the man. He's a politician, and they are known for thses stuffs. For far as he's performing, I don't have issue with trivial issues like this

Hmmm... Leave story.. The man na super performer!

Let the propaganda continue, All Propaganda Congress party. I pray APC achieve what they plan to achieve in this country without taking taking my life and that of my loved ones.

I so much searched for nairaland "influencers" but their name was not there, truly, the heartbreak will go round.

More shege on the way

Lol anything to bring him down. All ministries have social media aides. But the ministry have to work before the media aides can have something to promote.

Tunji-Ojo is doing well.

It was obvious. The man is eyeing ondo state governor position in future

A good product markets itself.
Why is he desperate for publicity?

LOL. Make them pay some of that cash, I am probably more aware of his achievements than the career wannabe influencers

Tunji Ojo's results are visible to all. He actually didn't need to pay anyone a kobo for promoting him. Those who have collected their ports are his greatest campaigners.

Yorubas so much believe in propaganda and outright lies which they call sophistication,why is it that way?

Propaganda pro max

Mtchew. I will just leave this here.

Hopium:
A lot of you guys need your brains examined. You guys can never be satisfied; always finding something to fault.

The guy does his job - you said so too, what's your business if he decides to goes to Times Square to promote his service deliveries?

Tunji Ojo is the best interior minister this country has ever produced. He can go to the heavens to run PR, it's of zero importance to Nigerians. The man does his job; everyone can testify to this - that's all that's important. Btw, if he didn't propagate his work, how will you (I mean you!) know what excellent public service delivery is like?

When/if you're appointed as a political public servant, do your work and don't propagate it, we will see how that ends for you.

Also, the ignoramus that you are can't decode that he's running his PR towards contesting for the Governorship of Ondo State.

When great men achieve amazing feats, the only thing people like you do is speculate and run mouth. That's all you know how to do!

Hmmm. Nigeria govt and noise making hmmm

Hunger know no language, tribe or religion

Coldspice:
Tunji Ojo's results are visible to all. He actually didn't need to pay anyone a kobo for promoting him. Those who have collected their ports are his greatest campaigners.

So,because of that he should award contracts to his company?
Have u heard of conflict of interest before?

Where is Betta Edu??