GBAJAGATE## Becoming Too Wide To Close
By Olusola Ajiboye,
Femi Gbajabiamila is in the eye of the storm again after previous allegations of involvement in appointment racketeering and name substitution in which he allegedly got favourable treatment and pardons by interests favourable to his political career.
The trending scandal is so big to be swept under the carpet and may be the finishing line for the embattled Chief of Staff, in view of the enormity of the odium woven around it and its implications for the Tinubu presidency.
The hullabaloo is linked to an amorphous government agency which the Chief of Staff to the President has declared non-existent. Altercations and correspondences between the Chief of Staff Secretary to the government of the federation and the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) are quite revealing and, if investigated and found authentic, may turn the Tinubu presidency into another famous house of scandal.
An agency was created in 2025 to induce and promote foreign investments, trade and diplomacy between Nigeria and other nations of the world. A Director-General with executive powers was appointed. The agency reportedly received presidential approval to operate with a budget of about ₦1,302,978,784 (approximately 1.3 billion naira), appropriated in the 2026 budget and passed by the National Assembly.
The same agency allegedly opened multiple bank accounts (about 34 in total), including accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), secured operational offices at the Federal Secretariat Abuja, recruited three hundred (300) staff, held meetings, conferences and organized summits with local and foreign investors, and diplomats at various timers, all at the behest of government, through Head of Service of the Federation and Chief of Staff to the President.How and when did clinking wine glasses turn into scattering bits?
Prince Adeyemi accused Femi Gbajabamila of demanding a balance of N200 Million of the N400 Million earlier received to secure his appointment as Director General of the agency. He also accused the Chief of Staff of exerting pressure on him to part with forty (40%) percent of the total take off budget approved for the agency.
That was the point the relationship went sour and the Speaker came blaring loud music unfit for the ears. The media has feasted on what appears the most sensational news of the moment.
The Gbajagate## goes beyond the din it has engendered but points to the moral questions often unanswered by serial discrepancies at top levels of government in Nigeria.
Misdemeanors of highly placed Nigerians in the corridors of power have eroded citizens’ Confidence in government and replaced hope with despair. Corruption and impunity are such recurring decimal, pushing the country to the edge of economic ruin and disintegration while government is weighed down by self inflicted maladies to deal with the evil situation.
Today, the book-check is on alleged phantom federal Agency, established on 7th August 2025 and purported to have navigated every track of due process and secured access to public funds.
The Agency’s operations and status reveal information which looks too good to be dismissed as unreal.A three hundred (300) staff capacity, an office, accommodation at the federal secretariat Abuja,
Multiple accounts including ones domiciled at the Central Bank, Operational equipments, all sanctioned and approved by the National Assembly in the 2026 budget. Investigation did unearth letters of approval from the Head of Service of the Federation, which authorized a waiver for the Agency to recruit staff due to the Federal Government embargo on general recruitments.
The letter signed by Mimi Abubakar, Director organization, design and development is a special exemption to the Agency’s Director General to recruit officers across various grade levels, consisting of 45 planning officers, 32 commercial officers, 22 investment officers, 26 Accountants, 10 legal and procurement officers, programme analysts, information officers, statisticians, technical officers, confidential secretaries and drivers among others based on and limited to the 2025 approved establishment position of the agency.
The letter in language and contents did raise questions on how a ghost agency could get such a government cover without a whimper from any quarter. The letter directed that “PFIPC should obtain clearance from the budget office before recruitment, comply with federal character principle, reserve five (5%) percent of the posts for persons living with disabilities, ensure officials from the office of the Head of Service of the Federation monitor the exercise and submit the names of all successful candidates for official records.”
Were all these instructions meant for a non-existence Agency?And barely twenty four (24) hours after the waivers, the Agency’s Director General publicly celebrated President Tinubu for his supportive role in birthing the agency and announced approval to network the agency in all the thirty six (36) states of the Federation with one hundred and twenty seven (127) international officers around the world. Again; for an Agency that does not exist?
The Controversies, denials, media releases, mudslinging and white washing of issues around the agency have become unnecessary now since parties in the deal are not prepared to own up to misdemeanors and abuse of public trust.
The issue should move to an independent Judicial Enquiry free of the fingers of influencers on whatever is the outcome of such investigations. That Gbajagate## has been taken to the law Courts is reassuring. The media has a duty to keep Nigerians sufficiently informal of proceedings when the case takes off.Gbajagate## may become the biggest scandal depending on the way it is handled.
It is a tale of two parties locked in a con-fight. Who goes down in the mud is not known at the moment. It is however imperative for the relevant anti-graft agencies to develop more than a thin-partisan interest in a case that threatens the moral fabric of governance at the highest level.
Gbajagate## is a can of worms that can open several others. it puts the honesty, competence and patriotism of those who work for Mr. President into question.Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi must be a superhuman con-Artist (if proved) to have pulled such a wool on the eyes of top political and public office holders to launch a great heist on the country.
But let’s wait until the court rooms are opened for arguments on Gbajagate## @ 2026.Olusola Ajiboye is a Veteran Journalist and Media Consultant based in Osogbo, South West Nigeria.