Atiku's Associate Urges Tinubu to Put Gbajabiamila on Hold Pending ICPC Investigation into PFIPC

n n

Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council without first suspending officials linked to the matter.

n

Ibe, in a post on his X handle on Tuesday, said it was “flagrantly wrong” for Tinubu to order the probe without “without asking the key suspects, including his Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to go on suspension pending the conclusion of the investigation.”

n

He added, “Not suspending all those involved in the #GbajaGate scandal is akin to them being a judge in their own case. Their continued stay in office while the investigation is going on, gives them the opportunity to interfere with the investigation process.”

n

Tinubu had earlier directed the ICPC to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the PFIPC, which the Presidency has described as a fictitious body with no legal basis or presidential approval, and gave the commission a 30-day deadline to submit its report.

n

The PFIPC has been at the centre of a raging controversy after Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who claims to be the council’s Director-General, alleged he paid N600m — including N400m through proxies — to secure the position, and accused Gbajabiamila of demanding 48 per cent of the agency’s take-off grant.

n

The Presidency has dismissed Adeyemi as an impostor and insisted the PFIPC does not exist, even as questions persist over how the council allegedly secured a N1.3bn budgetary allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act and opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

n

Ibe’s call adds to mounting pressure on the Presidency, with the Nigeria Democratic Congress and former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, also demanding Gbajabiamila’s suspension pending investigation.

n n