Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called on President Bola Tinubu to suspend his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, over allegations of a ₦400 million bribery scandal.
Atiku insisted that President Tinubu must demonstrate his commitment to transparency and accountability by allowing an independent investigation
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Atiku Media Office, the former Vice President said the allegations against Gbajabiamila could not be dismissed with what he described as “weak and unconvincing explanations.”
Atiku was reacting to allegations made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), who accused the President’s Chief of Staff of wrongdoing and called for a probe into the circumstances surrounding the agency and its budgetary allocation.
According to Atiku, Gbajabiamila’s earlier claim that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council did not exist had only deepened public concerns after the agency was reportedly allocated ₦27.4 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
“How can you allocate ₦27.4 billion in the budget to a government agency that doesn’t exist without leaving more questions than answers?” Atiku asked.
He argued that if the agency was truly non-existent, then its inclusion in the national budget raised fundamental questions about the integrity of the entire 2026 budget process.
“The Chief of Staff’s claim only created more problems for the government,” Atiku said.
“Allocating ₦27.4 billion to an agency that doesn’t exist puts question marks on the credibility of the entire 2026 national budget.”
The former Vice President described the alleged budgetary irregularity as a national scandal that should not be ignored.
“The alleged colossal budgetary fraud cannot be swept under the carpet by weak and unconvincing explanations by the Chief of Staff,” he said.
Atiku urged President Tinubu to direct an independent investigation into the allegations and suspend Gbajabiamila pending the outcome of the probe.
“Good governance is based on transparency and accountability and you can’t achieve that by protecting your family and friends,” he said.
“President Tinubu must lead by example by holding his Chief of Staff to the same standards of accountability as other public officials. ₦27 billion is not a joke. The rule of law must prevail in this issue. Let President Tinubu prove to Nigerians that he is sincerely committed to accountability in his administration.”
The latest development follows allegations made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi during a press conference in Abuja on June 26, where he called on President Tinubu to constitute an independent panel to investigate what he described as financial irregularities involving Gbajabiamila.
Adeyemi, who identified himself as the Director-General of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and PFIPC, urged the President to order what he called a “full-scale, independent and transparent investigation” into the activities of the Chief of Staff.
He alleged that despite Gbajabiamila’s public denial that the PFIPC and PEAC existed, the names of the agencies appeared in the 2026 national budget with allocations running into billions of naira.
According to Adeyemi, if the agencies were indeed non-existent, Nigerians deserved an explanation as to how they were included in the Appropriation Act.
“Let’s even assume that the agency did not exist, then how did its name find its way into the 2026 appropriation budget?” Adeyemi asked.
He also claimed that the agency maintained domiciliary accounts, a pound sterling account and a Treasury Single Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria, arguing that such accounts could not have been opened without due government processes.
Adeyemi further alleged that there had been attempts to use security agencies to portray his diplomatic engagements as acts of espionage, an allegation he denied.
He called on President Tinubu to compel Gbajabiamila to produce official documents for forensic examination, review all budgetary references relating to the agencies and step aside pending the outcome of an investigation.
“If I am wrong, let an independent process prove it, and if Gbajabiamila is right, let the process also confirm it,” Adeyemi said.
