Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has called for the suspension of Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, over the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, describing him as the “number one suspect” in the matter.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Dalung argued that no meaningful investigation could be conducted without first scrutinising the office of the Chief of Staff.
“Anybody who is not looking at the Chief of Staff to the President as a prime suspect is complicit in the entire transaction and needs to be investigated,” Dalung said.
He added: “The Chief of Staff, who is the ear and the eyes of the President, the gatekeeper, and the first contact point with the office of the President, should, by this time, have been suspended before any other investigation because they are not going to make any headway without him.”
The former minister questioned how businessman Adeyemi Matthew allegedly gained access to the Presidential Villa, insisting that entry into the seat of government is tightly controlled.
“Adeniyi did not access the Villa except when somebody granted him a pass. The Villa is not Zone 4 or a marketplace. Even if you have an appointment in the Villa, you must be accredited with a pass to gain entry, and the designated area of your visit must be captured within the security network of the Villa,” he said.
Dalung argued that the Chief of Staff must account for what transpired.
He further said: “The Chief of Staff to the President is the number one suspect because he is responsible for either misleading the President, deliberately failing to provide the relevant information because of his vested interest in the matter, or creating this embarrassing situation in pursuit of a personal and selfish agenda.”
The Presidency had earlier dismissed claims by Adeyemi Adeniyi Matthew that he was appointed to head a presidential agency, maintaining that he was an impostor who allegedly forged official documents to present himself as Director-General of the non-existent PFIPC.
Dalung, however, insisted that the investigation should extend beyond Adeniyi and include senior government officials.
“Those that Nigeria should hold accountable: number one, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; number two, the Chief of Staff; number three, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; number four, the National Security Adviser; number five, the Director-General of the DSS; number six, the Chairman of the EFCC; and number seven, the Central Bank Governor.
“These people, in my view, played roles in embarrassing Nigeria,” he declared.
He further alleged that the controversy was too significant to be treated as an isolated case.
“The current scenario is an elephant—an elephant-sized criminal enterprise—that the carpet in the Villa is too small to hide,” Dalung said.
Calling for a broader investigation into how the alleged actors became connected to the Presidency, he said: “The first thing the government must do is start where the problem began. How did these people become connected with the Villa? The first person who should step aside to enable a proper investigation is the Chief of Staff to the President.”
Dalung also warned against attempts to shield public officials from scrutiny.
“Anybody trying to insinuate a cover-up is part and parcel of this grand design to embarrass and destroy Nigeria,” he said.