Solomon Dalung, a former Minister of Youth and Sports under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has criticised the Presidency’s defence of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, over allegations surrounding Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew.
He added that the official response issued by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, did not address critical questions on how a purportedly fictitious presidential agency was allegedly operating within government circles.
He said while the Presidency tried to exonerate Gbajabiamila, its explanation exposed gaping holes in government oversight.
The Presidency must explain how an individual allegedly forged an appointment letter, operated from the Federal Secretariat, recruited personnel, engaged government institutions, met diplomats and reportedly obtained a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account without being detected, he said.
He also questioned reports that the alleged agency was included in the national budget.
“If the council was fake how did it get into the budget,” Dalung said.
He said budget proposals undergo several stages of executive and legislative scrutiny before approval and asked who introduced, processed and approved the alleged provision.
Dalung also asked how the office space was allegedly got at the Federal Secretariat, who gave approval for the allocation of the space and why the operation was not discovered earlier.
He also challenged reports of the death of Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, who investigators said was identified by Adeyemi as the person who helped procure the alleged forged appointment letter.
Dalung asked if investigators had conducted an autopsy, coroner’s inquest or forensic review of Tanimola’s communications and financial records.
Dalung, however, said while the allegations against Adeyemi were before the court, accountability should not end with the prosecution of one person.
The government must explain how its institutions interacted or failed to detect what the Presidency describes as a fictitious agency, he said.
Dalung called on the Presidency to release documentary evidence, timelines and official records on the alleged inclusion of the agency in the national budget, its alleged operations within the Federal Secretariat and the breakdown of institutional safeguards.