Presidency’s Defence Of Gbajabiamila: “There Are More Questions Than Answers

I just read the statement issued by Bayo Onanuga on behalf of the Presidency, which supposedly trying to put a defence for the Chief of staff, Gbajabiamila.

However, I think the Presidency’s statement was clearly intended to shut down public scrutiny. Ironically, it has achieved the exact opposite. It answered some questions, but in doing so, it exposed even bigger ones.

Let us assume, for a moment, that every allegation against Prince Adeyemi is true. Even then, the statement leaves glaring gaps that no amount of rhetoric can paper over.

You are asking Nigerians to believe that one private citizen woke up one morning, invented a presidential agency, forged his own appointment, secured office space inside the Federal Secretariat, recruited staff, held meetings with diplomats, corresponded with government institutions, allegedly opened a CBN account through official channels, and if the official budget documents are anything to go by, the same “non-existent” agency found its way into the Appropriation Act with an allocation running into billions.

If that is truly what happened, then this is no longer just the story of an alleged fraudster. It is also the story of spectacular institutional failure. Either government systems were astonishingly easy to deceive, or there are questions that still have not been answered.

The statement conveniently glosses over the budget issue. That silence is deafening.

How does a fictitious agency appear in the national budget? Budget allocations do not descend from heaven. They pass through ministries, the Budget Office, executive review and legislative approval. Who introduced the line item? Who processed it? Who signed off on it? Who failed to ask whether the agency even existed?

Those are not political questions. They are governance questions.

Then there is the issue of the Federal Secretariat office. Offices inside government complexes are not roadside kiosks. How was the space obtained? Under whose authority? How long did it operate? Who interacted with the occupants? Who looked the other way?

Again, silence.