“I almost put Boni Yayi in prison,” Janvier Yahouédéou
On the set of the Info Hebdo show broadcast on Saturday, August 9th, 2025 on Esae TV, Janvier Yahouédéou, coordinating minister of the presidential adviser’s college under president Patrice Talon, elaborated in great detail on what he calls governance abuses during the term of the former President, Boni Yayi.
Through revelations, anecdotes, and direct accusations, he claimed to have almost brought the former president to court in 2010.
The former deputy explains that at the time, while he was serving in Parliament, he initiated a procedure against Boni Yayi and collected 49 signatures out of the 52 needed to push it through. According to him, this initiative, launched at the end of the term before the 2011 presidential elections, politically cost several parliamentary signatories. “The majority fell, including Samou Adambi,” he specifies.
Janvier Yahouédéou asserts that this approach was motivated by what he calls “looting of the national economy,” citing notably the Cen-Sad case, estimated at 70 billion CFA francs, accompanied by overcharges such as “a pair of gloves at 90,000 francs” or “raincoats at 400,000 francs,” as well as the sale of seaside plots at ridiculous low prices. He also brings up the ICC Services scandal, which he estimates at around 200 billion CFA francs siphoned off, worsening poverty in the country, according to him.
The current advisory minister also denounces other flagship projects of the time, such as the construction of the National Assembly’s headquarters, estimated at 25 billion CFA francs and entrusted, according to his claim, to close associates of the power without any tenders, for a project that has remained unfinished.
For Janvier Yahouédéou, if Patrice Talon were to launch a “total fight” against corruption, Boni Yayi should be held accountable before the court.
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