Solomon Dalung, a former Minister of Youth and Sports under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has condemned 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 answer key questions on how a purportedly fictitious presidential agency was allegedly operating within government circles.
He said while the Presidency sought to exonerate Gbajabiamila, its explanation revealed gaping holes in government oversight.
“It is up to the Presidency to explain how an individual was able to allegedly forge an appointment letter, operate from the Federal Secretariat, recruit personnel, engage government institutions, meet diplomats and reportedly obtain a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account without being detected,” he said.
He also questioned reports that the alleged agency was in the national budget.
“If the council was fake how did it make it into the budget,” Dalung said.
He said budget proposals go through several levels of executive and legislative scrutiny before getting approval and asked who presented, processed and approved the alleged provision.
Dalung also queried how the office space was allegedly obtained at the Federal Secretariat, who gave the approval for the allocation of the space and why the operation was not discovered earlier.
He also dismissed reports of the death of Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, who investigators said was identified by Adeyemi as the one who helped procure the alleged forged appointment letter.
Dalung asked if investigators had performed an autopsy, coroner’s inquest or forensic review of Tanimola’s communications and financial records.
But Dalung said while the allegations against Adeyemi were before the court, accountability should not end with the prosecution of one person.
He said the government should explain how its institutions interacted or failed to detect what the Presidency described as a fictitious agency.
Dalung urged the Presidency to provide 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.
