Gbajabiamila Under Fire: Presidency's 'Clearance' Fails to Quell Allegations Storm

The Presidency recently absolved Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of any complicity in the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council/Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the appointment of its acclaimed Director General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi. The Presidency tagged Adeyemi a “con artist” who was under investigation by security agencies and vowed that he would face justice in court. However, the Presidency remained silent on the alleged inclusion of the disputed council in the 2026 budget with an allocation of N1.3 billion, an alleged N400 million Adeyemi claimed to have paid Gbajabiamila by proxy, and an alleged demand for 48 percent of the council’s N27 billion take-off grant.

Gbajabiamila had previously issued a disclaimer, denying the council's existence. Adeyemi, however, countered this disclaimer in a press conference, describing it as “a cloud of public misrepresentation, institutional denial and a deliberate attempt to silence legitimate questions that concern matters of national interest.” He called on President Tinubu to establish an independent investigative panel to, among other things, compel the Chief of Staff to produce official documents for forensic analysis, review budgetary and institutional records, investigate alleged assassination attempts on his life, and compel Gbajabiamila to step aside pending the probe's outcome. Adeyemi further demanded that this panel include credible civil society and international organizations and make its findings public.

Checks revealed that the council’s website, www.pfipc.gov.ng, has been inactive, though its Instagram page describes its mandate as “Facilitating global partnerships & foreign investment into Nigeria.” There was also no official statement announcing Adeyemi’s appointment as the DG. Despite this, Adeyemi, acting as the council’s ‘DG,’ had official engagements with heads of various government agencies and global partners, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), and the China Investment Business Development Commission (CIBDC).

Amidst widespread debate, the Presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, broke its silence, accusing Adeyemi of peddling falsehoods. Onanuga stated that the office of the Chief of Staff first flagged the illegal agency following complaints from Nigerian Investment Promotion Council officials about a purportedly cross-purposing government agency. On October 17, Gbajabiamila sent a letter to the DSS and the Police requesting an investigation into “fraudsters and imposters” forging appointment letters from his office. This letter was accompanied by a copy of the forged appointment letter, a request for a note verbale to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and pictures of engagements from the illegal agency’s website. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also raised concerns, writing to the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff on October 15, 2025, for clarification after Adeyemi met with ambassadors on October 10 without recourse to the ministry. The Office of the National Security Adviser and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation also sought clarification, with the Chief of Staff issuing a clear rebuttal to the Foreign Affairs Ministry that he never issued an appointment letter to Adeyemi for a non-existent agency, as appointments are the exclusive preserve of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Police investigations confirmed that the agency Adeyemi purportedly headed was fictitious, that he forged his appointment letter and other documents recovered from his office and home, and that he falsely paraded himself as a government appointee and solicited a note verbale from the Foreign Affairs Ministry for US visas. The police report indicated that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, with nine opened in the names of his fictitious agencies, such as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Public Private Partnership (FIPA-APP), and the FCT Investment Promotion Act. He fraudulently opened a CBN account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, though no government money was transferred. The police found his actions constituted criminal forgery, impersonation, and obtaining by false pretence, bringing disrepute to the Presidency. An eight-count charge was filed against Adeyemi and two accomplices at the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 27, 2025, with a court appearance scheduled for July 27. Onanuga noted that Adeyemi made his recent claims about Gbajabiamila's appointment while on police bail, prompting Gbajabiamila's June 8 disclaimer. The Presidency characterized Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew as a “con artist” with a history of false presentations, including in November 2016, when he paraded himself as an ambassador and President-General of a non-existent World Youth Organisation affiliated with the UN.

Despite the Presidency's defense, civil society organizations have called for independent investigations. Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Head of Transparency International Nigeria, emphasized that allegations of corruption against any public official should be treated seriously, impartially, and with due process to maintain public confidence. He urged anti-corruption agencies to independently examine the allegations against Gbajabiamila and act on credible evidence, free from political interference. Similarly, Okechukwu Nwanguma, Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), asserted that while the Presidency provided a detailed account against Adeyemi, it did not comprehensively address the specific allegations of a purported N400 million payment or other misconduct claims against the Chief of Staff. Nwanguma stressed that discrediting the accuser does not automatically dispose of every allegation, advocating for transparent, independent, and evidence-based investigations to establish the truth and ensure accountability.

Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, also criticized the Presidency’s defense, highlighting what he described as significant gaps in government oversight. Dalung questioned how a purportedly fictitious presidential agency could allegedly operate within government circles, forge an appointment letter, operate from the Federal Secretariat, recruit personnel, engage with institutions, meet diplomats, and reportedly obtain a Central Bank of Nigeria account without official scrutiny. He specifically asked for an explanation for the council's alleged inclusion in the national budget and who introduced, processed, or approved such a provision. Dalung also raised concerns about the alleged office space at the Federal Secretariat and the thoroughness of the investigation into the death of Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, whom Adeyemi claimed helped procure the alleged forged appointment letter before reportedly dying in a hotel fire. Dalung insisted that accountability should not end with Adeyemi's prosecution, urging the government to make public documentary evidence and official records addressing the operational failures.

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana reiterated that the Presidency lacks the constitutional authority to clear anyone accused of a crime, stating that only law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies have the power to investigate and determine such issues. Falana suggested that the Chief of Staff should be referred to the ICPC given the allegations of fraud and corruption. He also questioned how a sum of N24 billion was allegedly budgeted for an unknown agency and how such an agency had accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria. Both the legal proceedings against Adeyemi and the calls for independent investigation into the broader allegations continue, underscoring the demand for transparency and accountability in governance.