Presidential Council Boss Asks Tinubu To Probe Gbajabiamila

The embattled Director-General of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to investigate his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, over alleged financial and administrative controversies.

According to SaharaReporters, Adeyemi made the call during a press conference in Abuja, where he urged the President to set up a full-scale, independent and transparent panel to examine allegations linked to the purported establishment and recognition of the two councils.

He said the panel should include relevant government agencies, credible civil society organisations, international bodies and members of the media.

Adeyemi said Nigerians deserved clarity over the status of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

According to him, Gbajabiamila had, on June 11, issued a disclaimer distancing the Office of the Chief of Staff from PFIPC and PEAC, claiming that the agencies did not exist.

“I reject the attempts to reduce this matter to simple denials without addressing the core questions that Nigerians have been asking since 2025,” Adeyemi said.

He described the controversy as involving “public misrepresentation, institutional denial, and deliberate attempts to silence legitimate questions that concern matters of national interest.”

Adeyemi questioned how the names of the councils allegedly appeared in the 2026 appropriation budget if they did not exist.

“Let’s even assume that the agency did not exist, then how did its name find its way into the 2026 appropriation budget pages 50 and 51, and if the agency does not exist, yet it appears on the Nigerian national budget, does that mean that the entire 2026 appropriation budget is a fraud?” he asked.

He argued that the national budget passes through several layers of scrutiny, including executive coordination, ministerial inputs, Budget Office review and consideration by the National Assembly.

Adeyemi said the alleged appearance of the bodies in official documents raised questions about the integrity of the process that produced and approved the budget.

The council boss further alleged that there were authenticated administrative processes, budgetary lines and institutional communications connected to the councils.

He also claimed that the bodies had domiciliary, pounds and Treasury Single Accounts allegedly domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

According to him, the process of opening such accounts begins from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Adeyemi also alleged that there were attempts in some quarters to use security institutions to frame his diplomatic engagements as espionage or disloyalty, a claim he rejected.

“I categorically reject any attempt to criminalise lawful activity,” he said.

Adeyemi appealed to President Tinubu to constitute an independent panel to compel the Chief of Staff to produce all official documents he had signed since assuming office for forensic analysis.

He also asked that Gbajabiamila step aside pending the outcome of the investigation.

The embattled director-general further called for a review of budgetary references and institutional records, with the findings made public.

“If I am wrong, let an independent process prove it, and if Gbajabiamila is right, let the process also confirm it,” Adeyemi said.