‘More Answers Needed’ – Buhari’s Former Minister Faults Presidency’s Defence Of Gbajabiamila

A former Minister of Youth and Sports in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Solomon Dalung, has faulted the Presidency’s defence of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, over allegations surrounding Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew.

Dalung said the official response issued by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, failed to answer critical questions about how a purportedly fictitious presidential agency allegedly operated within government circles.

According to him, while the Presidency sought to exonerate Gbajabiamila, its explanation exposed major gaps in government oversight.

Dalung said the Presidency must explain how an individual allegedly forged an appointment letter, operated from the Federal Secretariat, recruited personnel, engaged government institutions, met diplomats and reportedly obtained a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account without being detected.

He also questioned reports that the alleged agency appeared in the national budget.

“If the council was fake, explain how it entered the budget,” Dalung said.

He argued that budget proposals pass through several stages of executive and legislative review before approval and asked who introduced, processed and approved the alleged provision.

Dalung also queried how office space was allegedly secured at the Federal Secretariat, asking which authority approved the allocation and why the operation was not discovered earlier.

He further raised questions over the reported death of Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, whom investigators allegedly identified as the person Adeyemi claimed helped procure the alleged forged appointment letter.

Dalung asked whether investigators conducted an autopsy, coroner’s inquest or forensic review of Tanimola’s communications and financial records.

While noting that the allegations against Adeyemi are before the court, Dalung said accountability should not stop with the prosecution of one individual.

He said the government must explain how its institutions either interacted with or failed to detect what the Presidency now describes as a fictitious agency.

Dalung called on the Presidency to publish documentary evidence, timelines and official records relating to the alleged agency’s inclusion in the national budget, its reported operations within the Federal Secretariat and the failure of institutional safeguards.