Fake Agency: Gbajabiamila Is Innocent; I Know Him Very Well

 

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that those who wanted to bring down the administration of Bola Tinubu targeted  his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila in the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC saga.

The FCT minister said the CoS is a man of integrity, and could not have been involved in the scam.

Wike spoke during his monthly media chat with select journalists in Abuja, the nation’s capital, saying the allegations against Gbajabiamila were false, adding that the target is to embarrass the government.

 

Recall that Gbajabiamila was accused by one Adedeji Matthew, the purported Director General of the PFIPC of facilitating his appointment, after allegedly collecting N400 million from him, through an intermediary who’s is now dead.

The Presidency has however declared the agency as non- existent, accusing Adedeji as a scammer.

Speaking, Wike described the allegations against the CoS as tissues of lies, saying “l know the Chief of Staff very, very well. Without prejudice, I know him very well,” and it’s “illogical” to link him to the scam. 

 

“There are people who target those in government just to give a bad name to their boss. If you want to embarrass any government, the first person you target is the Chief of Staff because people believe that once you get to him, the government will be embarrassed,” he said.

 

Adding “Does it make sense that an agency that does not exist he will ask somebody to give it such an amount of money? It is madness. The Chief of Staff cannot create a budget. It is simply not possible.”

 

President Tinubu has directed that the alleged scam be probed by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC.

 

Also, the House of Representatives, on Wednesday set up an adhoc committee to probe the allocation of over N27 billion to the Phantom agency in the 2026 budget. The committee is chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, the lawmaker representing Plateau state in Nigeria’s lower chamber of the National Assembly.