Fake presidential council: Ex-APC chieftain calls for forensic probe over death of intermediary

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has demanded a thorough forensic investigation into the mysterious death of Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, the alleged principal intermediary in the ongoing Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) bribery and appointment scandal.

Frank said the public, particularly Tanimola’s family, deserves to know the true circumstances surrounding his death, especially as his testimony could have been crucial in uncovering the full details of the scandal currently rocking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

The controversy escalated after the presidency, through a statement by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed allegations linking Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, to the activities of the PFIPC and its Director General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi.

The presidency stated that police confirmed Tanimola died in a hotel in Abuja five days before Adeyemi’s arrest.

In a statement released on Friday in Abuja, Frank rejected the presidency’s position and insisted that the circumstances of Tanimola’s death must be independently probed.

“He was identified as an intermediary and go-between for Prince Adeyemi in the bribery and appointment scandal involving the Chief of Staff to the President,” Frank said.

He called on the international community, including the United States, the European Union, and other technologically advanced nations, to assist Nigeria in uncovering the truth behind what he described as “monumental corruption of the century.”

He also argued that an agency like the PFIPC could not have operated so openly — securing an annual budget allocation, an office at the Federal Secretariat, police escorts, official vehicles, an official residence, and even hosting top government officials, National Assembly leaders, the EFCC boss, and foreign ambassadors — without the knowledge and backing of the presidency.

“It is impossible for an ordinary citizen to enjoy such government patronages without having the backing of the presidency,” he said.

He added that relevant government institutions, including the Office of the Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Budget Office, the National Assembly, and security agencies, ought to be answering questions over the matter.

He cited media reports that the Tinubu administration granted a waiver to the PFIPC in August 2025, allowing it to recruit 300 members of staff. The approval was reportedly conveyed by Mimi Abu, Director of Organisation Design and Development in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, in a letter dated August 7, 2025.

Despite claims that the agency did not legally exist, Frank noted that it opened an account with the CBN, operated from a government building, and enjoyed various official privileges.

Describing the scandal as a brazen display of impunity, Frank urged Nigerians at home and in the diaspora, civil society organisations, and leaders of thought to speak out and hold the government accountable.

He said the development was serious enough to warrant the removal of the Tinubu administration, which he accused of running the country like a “personal estate” while Nigerians endure unprecedented poverty and hardship.

Frank, who also serves as Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), said the events under the current administration reveal incompetence and suggest that President Tinubu is not fully in charge of his government.

He urged Nigerians not to allow Tinubu to continue in office beyond 2027 and criticised the National Assembly for failing to perform its oversight functions, which he said allowed the alleged agency to emerge in the first place.