Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has declared that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, should be treated as a "prime suspect" in the unfolding scandal surrounding the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), insisting that the impersonation and operation of the purported agency could not have happened without the complicity of senior officials in President Bola Tinubu's administration.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television's Sunrise Daily on Friday, July 3, 2026, Dalung argued that anyone who overlooks the Chief of Staff's role in the controversy is complicit in what he described as an embarrassing episode for Nigeria. He maintained that Gbajabiamila occupies a strategic position as the President's closest aide and should have been suspended pending an investigation into the alleged breach. "So the Chief of Staff, who is the ears and the eyes of the President, the gatekeeper, the first contact point with the office of the President, should, by this time, have been suspended before any other investigation because they're not going to make any headway without him," Dalung said.
The former minister questioned how Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who is currently standing trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges of conspiracy, forgery, and impersonation, allegedly gained entry into the heavily secured Presidential Villa without official authorisation. According to Dalung, access to the Villa is tightly controlled and the suspect could not have entered without the knowledge or approval of someone within the presidency. "He did not get access to the Villa just like that. Somebody granted him passage. The Presidential Villa is not Zone 4 or a marketplace," Dalung added.
Dalung further argued that anyone who failed to consider the Chief of Staff and even the President as key suspects in the matter was shielding those responsible. "Anybody who is not looking at the Chief of Staff, the President, as a prime suspect is complicit in the entire transaction and also needs to be investigated," he said.
The controversy stems from Adeyemi's alleged operation of the PFIPC, which was reportedly allocated ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 national budget. Adeyemi had accused Gbajabiamila of demanding ₦27.4 billion, representing 48 per cent of the agency's proposed take-off grant, and of receiving ₦400 million through a proxy to facilitate his appointment, with an outstanding balance of ₦200 million allegedly yet to be paid. The Presidency has since disowned Adeyemi, describing him as an impostor facing criminal prosecution for forgery and impersonation.
Dalung listed several top government officials who he said should be held accountable, including President Bola Tinubu, the Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the National Security Adviser, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. "Look, those that Nigeria should hold accountable, number one, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, number two, the Chief of Staff, number three, the Secretary to Government of the Nigerian Federation, number four, the National Security Adviser, number five, the DG SSS, number six, the Chairman of the EFCC, number seven, the Central Bank Governor," Dalung said. "I line them; they played roles in embarrassing Nigeria."
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