Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has called for a comprehensive investigation into the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal, saying several top government officials, including President Bola Tinubu, should be held accountable.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Dalung listed President Tinubu, Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila, Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria as officials who should be probed over the controversy.
“Those that Nigeria should hold accountable: number one, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; number two, the Chief of Staff; number three, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; number four, the National Security Adviser; number five, the Director-General of the DSS; number six, the Chairman of the EFCC; and number seven, the Central Bank Governor.
“These people, in my view, played roles in embarrassing Nigeria,” Dalung said.
His remarks come days after the Presidency dismissed renewed claims by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew that he was appointed to head the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, insisting he is an impostor who allegedly forged official documents to present himself as Director-General of the non-existent agency.
Dalung, however, argued that Gbajabiamila should be treated as the “prime suspect” in any investigation, maintaining that it would be impossible to establish the full facts of the case without first examining the office of the Chief of Staff.
“Anybody who is not looking at the Chief of Staff to the President as a prime suspect is complicit in the entire transaction and needs to be investigated,” he said.
According to the former minister, the Chief of Staff occupies a strategic position in the Presidency and serves as the President’s gatekeeper, making it difficult for anyone to gain access to the Presidential Villa without the necessary authorisation.
“The Chief of Staff, who is the ear and the eyes of the President, the gatekeeper, and the first contact point with the office of the President, should, by this time, have been suspended before any other investigation because they are not going to make any headway without him,” he stated.
Dalung questioned how Adeyemi allegedly gained repeated access to the Presidential Villa, stressing that entry into the seat of government is tightly regulated.
“Adeniyi did not access the Villa except when somebody granted him a pass. The Villa is not Zone 4 or a marketplace. Even if you have an appointment in the Villa, you must be accredited with a pass to gain entry, and the designated area of your visit must be captured within the security network of the Villa,” he said.
He further argued that the Chief of Staff must explain whether the President was misled, deliberately kept uninformed, or whether the situation resulted from what he described as personal interests.
“The Chief of Staff to the President is the number one suspect because he is responsible for either misleading the President, deliberately failing to provide the relevant information because of his vested interest in the matter, or creating this embarrassing situation in pursuit of a personal and selfish agenda,” Dalung said.
The former minister also linked the controversy to what he described as a pattern of irregularities within the office of the Chief of Staff, citing the previous controversy involving former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Betta Edu.
“The Betta Edu scandal also originated from his office. His office was involved in coordinating the approval of consultancy contracts… violating laid-down procedures,” he alleged.
Describing the PFIPC controversy as a much larger issue, Dalung said prosecuting only one individual would not address the underlying problems.
“The current scenario is an elephant—an elephant-sized criminal enterprise—that the carpet in the Villa is too small to hide,” he said.
He urged the government to begin its investigation by determining how those involved gained access to the Presidential Villa, rather than focusing solely on those already facing prosecution.
“The first thing the government must do is start where the problem began. How did these people become connected with the Villa?
“The first person who should step aside to enable a proper investigation is the Chief of Staff to the President,” he said.
Dalung also cautioned against any attempt to shield senior government officials from scrutiny, insisting that a transparent investigation is necessary to protect Nigeria’s reputation.
“Anybody trying to insinuate a cover-up is part and parcel of this grand design to embarrass and destroy Nigeria,” he added.
