Femi Gbajabiamila
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the Presidency’s response to allegations involving the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, as a “damning revelation” of what it called incompetence and negligence within the APC-led Federal Government.
In a statement on Sunday titled “GBAJAGATE: A Damning Revelation of the Incompetence and Negligence of the APC-Led Federal Government,” the opposition party said the controversy surrounding the Presidential Economic Advisory Council had exposed serious institutional weaknesses in government.
The PDP’s reaction followed allegations by Prince Adeniyi Matthew, who claimed that Gbajabiamila solicited and received financial inducements to facilitate his appointment into the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and later made additional financial demands during his time in office.
Responding to the claims, the Presidency, through presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, dismissed Prince Matthew as an impostor and fraudster who allegedly forged his way into government circles.
However, the PDP argued that the Presidency’s explanation raised more concerns than it resolved.
According to the party, “The recent grave accusations levelled against the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila… and the admissions contained in the response issued by Presidential Spokesperson Bayo Onanuga… have confirmed what many Nigerians had long suspected—that the APC-led Federal Government is running the country with alarming recklessness, where nepotism and cronyism have displaced merit, and impunity has become standard practice, administered in a manner akin to a criminal enterprise.”
The party noted that while the Presidency denied Prince Matthew’s legitimacy, it did not directly address the bribery allegation against the Chief of Staff.
Instead, it said the government’s response suggested that Prince Matthew had managed to secure office accommodation, staff, budgetary allocations, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-registered accounts and official dealings with agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) without lawful authority.
The PDP said the development points to two troubling possibilities.
It stated, “If the Presidency’s account is correct, that Prince Matthew is an impostor, then it means the Federal Government is so porous and vulnerable… If, on the other hand, Prince Matthew’s account is accurate, that the Chief of Staff solicited and actually received bribes to facilitate his appointment, then this is yet another act of shameless corruption… Anyway this pendulum swings, the Nigerian people lose.”
The opposition party further questioned how an alleged impostor could have operated within the Presidency without detection.
“Assuming that Nigerians were to accept the Presidency’s explanation at face value, the implications would be staggering. How could an impostor operate freely and undetected at the highest level of government? How was he allocated office space at the Federal Secretariat complex, provided with staff, given budgetary provisions, granted CBN accounts, and allowed to interface with top-tier institutions? This is, by any measure, a monumental failure of the state,” the statement added.
The PDP also cited what it described as a pattern of avoidable embarrassments under the current administration, including the appointment of deceased persons into public offices, the inclusion of undeserving individuals on the presidential pardon list, and the alleged N800 billion Progressive Governors Forum scandal.
Calling for accountability, the party urged the Federal Government to order an independent forensic investigation into the matter, suspend officials found to be connected with the controversy, implement institutional reforms and publicly address Nigerians on the issues raised.
It argued that rather than embarking on what it described as a covert internal review, the government should demonstrate transparency and restore public confidence in the nation’s institutions.
