Femi Gbajabiamila must step down immediately. He must face a transparent, independent judicial inquiry free from executive interference. His resignation is not a cure for Nigeria’s systemic corruption, but it is a necessary first step. It would signal that public office is a duty to the people, not a license to pillage. The Nigerian public must also reject the cynical attempts to divide them along ethnic, religious, or political lines over this issue. Corruption has no ethnic group.
By Promise Adiele
It is difficult to argue that Nigeria is not trapped in a tragic cycle of systemic plunder. Every successive government shamelessly adorns a putrid, peculiar garment of corruption in a way that marks it apart from the previous government. The propensity is never in doubt. Every new government regales the people with lofty promises of renewal, hope, and revival but only to sink deeper into the cesspool of corruption mostly bordering on theft, mismanagement of public funds, and mindless sleaze of Olympian dimension. Each new government in Nigeria increases the intensity of mass evisceration by burglarizing the exchequer while the people wallow in despair, penury, and agony.
The amount of money involved is always mindboggling. Government officials do not steal small, they steal big. The narratives push a man of equitable conscience to wonder if Nigeria’s government officials are human beings or some aliens from the netherworld. The latest alleged corruption scandal involving Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to the President and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, represents a deeper, more dangerous low in Nigeria’s historical venal archives. In a saner clime, the Chief of Staff would have resigned immediately to allow for transparent investigation into the matter since he occupies a powerful, sensitive position in the government. But because this is Nigeria, he stays on in office.
Nigerians are told that a “fake government agency” sprout from nowhere and held the presidency by the jugular. The purported “fake agency” Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), is an organization ostensibly created to secure diplomatic and foreign deals. The controversial Director-General of the unrecognized agency, Adeniyi Adeyemi, publicly accused Gbajabiamila of demanding and receiving a ₦400 million bribe (and demanding an additional ₦200 million and a 48% cut) to facilitate his appointment. That the Chief of Staff is still in government encapsulates the operating fetid psychology of power in the presidency. It is a profound institutional betrayal and exposes the absolute collapse of accountability at the highest level of government.
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For years, Gbajabiamila presented himself as a modern, sophisticated legislator. He was supposed to represent a new breed of Nigerian politicians – educated, legally trained, and driven by policy. His transition from the apex of legislation to the administrative engine of the presidency was marketed as a step toward strategic governance. Instead, his involvement in this latest scandal and the humongous amount of money involved confirms a harsh truth – Nigeria’s political elite share a uniform appetite for public funds, regardless of their polish or pedigree.
The details of the current scandal reveal a shocking level of greed. Since the investigation is still on, one would be circumspect with conclusions. However, media reports indicate that the current scandal poses huge embarrassment to the Bola Tinubu government. No one can cover a nine-month old pregnancy. Any attempt to orchestrate the vanishing of the current scandal into a web of bureaucratic deception will ultimately backfire. The presidency’s immediate defense of Gbajabiamila in the scandal through Bayo Onanuga followed a predictable, sterile script. It was banal, barefaced, and prudish but bore the inescapable fingerprints of Onanuga whose tendencies for defending evil or promoting different shades of vices are well known. These presidential aides drink from the same trough of vile, intoxicating liquor. They actually take Nigerians to be stupid. The excuses advanced by the presidency are not just infantile but outright mischief.
As Chief of Staff, nothing moves within the presidency without Gbajabiamila’s approval. He is the primary gatekeeper of executive authority. To claim ignorance of the existence of the “fake agency” is an admission of complete incompetence. To admit knowledge is an admission of guilt. Both options show he is unfit for public office. If the agency was fake, why did the federal government allegedly allocate a large sum of money to it as budget? President Bola Tinubu has since ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the scandal. It is a fundamentally flawed process for the Chief of Staff to remain in office while the investigation is going on. Legally, ethically, and structurally, this arrangement violates the core principles of natural justice and compromises the integrity of Nigeria’s anti-corruption architecture.
Allowing a sitting Chief of Staff to remain at the center of executive power during a major corruption inquiry creates a severe conflict of interest for several distinct reasons. The ICPC is a government agency under the executive branch. As Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila is the administrative custodian of the Presidency. He controls access to the President, manages executive communications, and influences bureaucratic appointments. Also asking an agency whose leadership answers to the Presidency to probe the President’s chief gatekeeper is structurally contradictory. Civil servants and investigators within the commission cannot realistically exercise complete neutrality when dealing with an individual who wields immense power over the executive apparatus. Even if he does not directly intervene in the investigation, his active presence in the Presidential Villa casts a massive shadow over the process.
The credibility of the ICPC probe is already undermined by the executive’s public posture. For a country struggling to repair its global image regarding transparency, the optics of this arrangement are deeply damaging. Over the years, bodies like the EFCC and ICPC have proven to be political tools. They are quick to hunt down low-level cybercriminals but freeze when confronting powerful figures in the Presidential Villa. This selective justice destroys public trust. It sends a clear message to Nigerians – if you steal small, you go to jail, if you steal billions from the state, you get political protection.
Besides the “fake agency” scandal, Gbajabiamila is also facing fresh scrutiny following investigative reports that he drafted a memo to President Tinubu citing a “fake law” to legally divert 1.5% equivalent to ₦54 billion of annual oil and gas royalty collections from the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). This is yet to be proven, though. If it turns out to be true, it would be shocking that any government official could pull off such level of heist for private use in a country where people are facing severe economic crisis, record inflation, a collapsing currency, and extreme poverty. While regular Nigerians are told to sacrifice and endure hardship, the leaders asking for these sacrifices are busy enriching themselves. Funds that could have equipped public hospitals, funded public schools, or repaired broken roads have instead been diverted to fund luxury lifestyles.
The current scandal involving the Chief of Staff damages Nigeria’s already battered reputation internationally. The country cannot attract serious foreign investment when its highest public offices are linked to massive financial crimes. International partners and donors look at Nigeria and see a state run by gangsters that view the national treasury as a personal bank account. This lack of integrity keeps Nigeria dependent on high-interest foreign loans, burying future generations under a mountain of debt. This crisis is also a direct test for the current presidency. By keeping Gbajabiamila in his position, the President is tacitly approving corruption and allowing insinuations to mount. It proves that political loyalty matters more than national integrity.
The government cannot claim to run a transparent administration while a chief administrator in the government is covered in scandal. Every day Gbajabiamila remains in office stains the credibility of the entire administration. Nigeria’s democracy cannot survive when the rule of law is treated as optional. For decades, the country’s elite have operated above the law, creating a double standard where the rich are untouchable and the poor are punished. This latest scandal is a direct result of that unbroken culture of impunity. When leaders face no consequences for abuse of power, their corrupt behavior only grows bolder.
True national progress requires building strong institutions that can investigate and punish any individual, no matter how powerful. Nigeria does not lack laws to fight corruption, it lacks the political will to enforce them against the ruling class. Femi Gbajabiamila must step down immediately. He must face a transparent, independent judicial inquiry free from executive interference. His resignation is not a cure for Nigeria’s systemic corruption, but it is a necessary first step. It would signal that public office is a duty to the people, not a license to pillage. The Nigerian public must also reject the cynical attempts to divide them along ethnic, religious, or political lines over this issue. Corruption has no ethnic group. Hunger has no religion. The stolen billions do not discriminate between citizens. They impoverish everyone equally.
Nigerians must unite in demanding absolute accountability from their leaders. The country is bleeding from decades of corruption, and the latest scandal involving the Chief of Staff is a painful reminder of how deep the rot goes. If this case is swept under the rug like so many before it, it will confirm that the current government is paying lip service to fighting corruption and therefore does not have any moral justification to stay in power beyond 2027. The nation can no longer afford to shield its predators. It is time to demand justice, end the impunity, and reclaim the country from the few who continue to destroy its future.
