The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for the immediate removal of President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, following explosive allegations that a non-existent government agency was used to siphon public funds with his alleged collusion.
In a press statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Osa Director, the NDC said it was “alarmed” by the claims involving Gbajabiamila and one Prince Mathew Adeniyi Adeyemi, who purportedly served as Director-General of the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) – an agency the Presidency has publicly disclaimed.
According to the statement, the PFIPC allegedly received budgetary allocations in the 2026 budget and opened a Domiciliary Account, a Pounds Sterling Account and a Treasury Single Account (TSA) at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The NDC described as “baffling” how a fictitious agency could establish multiple high-level financial accounts at the apex bank without proper documentation, and questioned whether the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had knowingly processed forged documents.
The party also noted that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had reportedly approved 314 staff positions for the non-existent agency, raising doubts about the Presidency’s awareness and control over administrative decisions.
Most gravely, the NDC highlighted an allegation that Gbajabiamila demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s take-off grant – some N27.4 billion – which Prince Adeyemi claimed to have rejected, leading to a public falling-out.
Adeyemi further admitted that he secured his appointment through the Chief of Staff for N600 million, with N400 million allegedly paid via proxies and N200 million outstanding – a default that reportedly triggered the Presidency’s subsequent denial of the agency’s existence.
The NDC described these claims as pointing to “a disturbing pattern of institutionalised corruption, including the alleged sale of appointments to the highest bidders, a notorious trademark of the Tinubu administration”.
Concerns were also raised over the mysterious death of Mr Babatunde Tanimola, the intermediary between Prince Adeyemi and the Chief of Staff, who died in a hotel fire in Utako, Abuja on 22 October 2025 – just one day after Gbajabiamila’s petition was received by the police. Prince Adeyemi has also reported multiple assassination attempts, including an attack along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway in September 2025.
The NDC therefore demanded the immediate removal of Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff to allow for an unbiased investigation, establishment of an independent investigative panel to examine the PFIPC’s operations, budget allocations, account openings and staff approvals.
The party further called for investigation into the death of Mr Tanimola and the assassination attempts on Prince Adeyemi, forensic analysis of all official documents signed by the Chief of Staff since his appointment, questioning officials at the CBN, Office of the Accountant-General and Head of Civil Service, and full-scale investigations by the EFCC, ICPC and Nigeria Police Force.
The NDC warned that it would not accept a “mere defensive press release” as a deflection, insisting that “anyone found culpable in this sordid affair, no matter how highly placed, must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law”.
