Femi Gbajabiamila Gate Scandal And Institutional Failures -By Hjia Hadiza Mohammed

The government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not new to scandals. It will be remembered in history as a government of scandals. The latest scandal is that of Chief Femi Gbajabiamila, the chief of Staff to Tinubu and the alleged head of the current Aso Rock cabal. Sometime last year one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi was said to be appointed as the Director-general of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in a letter purportedly signed by the Chief of Staff to the President with a take-off grant of about N27.4billion and about 300 members of staff. It is said that the functions of the said PFIPC attracted the attention of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council which complained about duplication of roles which resulted in the arrest of the said DG of the PFIPC in November last year. The matter was not yet settled when Femi Gbajabiamila hurriedly issued a disclaimer by 11^th of June, 2026 denying the existence of the PFIPC. The embattled Prince Adeyemi in a press release stated that he was duly appointed and that he procured his appointment by paying the sum N400million to Femi Gbajabiamila through a proxy, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola who died through a mysterious fire incidence in a hotel when he was police detention last November.

The Presidency through Bayo Onanuga, the presidential spokesperson and one of the Aso Rock cabal has issued a statement in defense of Gbajabiamila denying the existence of the said PFIPC thereby portraying Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi as an impostor. Onanuga’s feeble attempt to defend his fellow cabal member has generated ripples and the effect is the exact opposite of what he intended: to shut down public scrutiny on the scandal.

Onanuga’s statement is hollow for it failed to address the main issues in the Gbajabiamila Gate scandal. For instance, he did not tell the Nigeria public how the young prince Adeyemi and the said fake agency got recognized by other government MDAs without official communication. According to the report by Punch Newspaper the said agency has an office in the Federal Secretariat at the request and approval of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). It has official account in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It has approval for 300 employees. The said non-existent agency has been having collaborating with other agencies including the EFCC and hosting foreign investors. And the Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi the said DG is said to have official police orderly assigned to him. There was a letter from the Accountant General’s office authorizing the release of the N27.4billion take-off grant for the agency. How did a fake agency get recognized by the office of the Accountant General and could have staff posted to it? In the 2026 Federal budget the PFIPC has about N1.3 billion allocated to it. Who defended it? How did it get recognized by the Budget Office and the National Assembly? How did the non-existent agency get recognized by the Office of Head of Service?

As one public affairs commentator puts it, “you are asking Nigerians to believe that one private citizen woke up one morning, invented a presidential agency, forged his own appointment, secured office space inside the Federal Secretariat, recruited staff, held meetings with diplomats, corresponded with government institutions, allegedly opened a CBN account through official channels, and if the official budget documents are anything to go by, the same “non-existent” agency found its way into the Appropriation Act with an allocation running into billions.”

It is indeed ridiculous that the Presidency wants the public to believe that the said DG of the purported non-existent agency is a fraudster. And if that is true, it shows how porous and weak our government and institutions are. It shows failure of governance, institutional failures and unbridled corruption. It portrays a clueless administration existing on subterfuge and denials.

How could a fictitious agency have allocation in our national budget? This invariably raises serious question about our budget process and validity of the 2026 Appropriation Act. Budgeting involves a rigorous process that goes through Ministries, the Budget Office, the executive reviews and legislative approval. Who introduced the item in the budget and who defended it? How did it pass through the legislative oversight? The inclusion, is it an oversight or deliberate? If it is deliberate insertion, then this is worse than padding as was the case in the past. And many are insinuating that there may be many other items inserted to fund the APC 2027 political campaign. Again, how could a fictitious agency have a space officially allocated to it at the Federal Secretariat with full complement of staff redeployed to it?

Many are inclined to think that Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi’s narrative is true: the N400 million paid to Gbajabiamila through his proxy now deceased and the demand by Gbajabiamila to collect 48% of the agency’s N27.4 million take-off grant. It is the refusal by Prince Adeyemi to accede to the demand that created the rift.

I am joining millions of other Nigerians to call for a thorough investigation into the matter between Gbajabiamila and Prince Adeyemi. The NASS should investigate how an allocation for an alleged illegal agency could enter into our national budget and if possible review the entire 2026 budget. Meanwhile, the Presidency could redeem itself by asking Femi Gbajabiamila to step down to enable a fair investigation into the scandal. The DG of the PFIPC, Prince Adeyemi should be given adequate police protection to ensure his safety.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com

An actress, social activist, politician

London, UK