Lawyer Liborous Oshoma has called on President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to step aside while a forensic audit investigates the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Oshoma made the call during a video interview with News Central TV on July 8, a day after President Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter and submit its report within 30 days.
The controversy centres on the alleged PFIPC, which the Presidency describes as a non-existent body, and a related N10 billion lawsuit that has placed Gbajabiamila under public and legal scrutiny. Police are searching for Adeniyi Adeyemi, who identified himself as the PFIPC Director-General before going into hiding. Adeyemi has denied any wrongdoing, maintained that the council was lawful, alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded bribes, and vowed to clear his name. The Presidency has denied the allegations.
Oshoma said Gbajabiamila should step aside to allow a thorough investigation.
“With all due respect to the chief of staff, I think that defamation suit is jumpy. It is hasty. It is preemptive. There are allegations. The man (Adeniyi Adeyemi) said, I spoke with this man (Gbajabiamila) through the phone. The man said, I spoke to him through a friend’s phone. And the friend is late. The president has said, investigate the matter. I also believe that the chief of staff and some persons in his office and other places should step aside. Let there be a forensic, not just an honorary, forensic detail audit investigation, including retrieving of phones of these persons so that you can conduct a forensic analysis of all of these phones.”
He also questioned how the PFIPC appeared in the national budget, saying:
“The agency (PFIPC) found its way into your national budget that was signed… So now, you say the agency is non-existent, but the non-existent agencies had a line item in the budget.”
Gbajabiamila has given Adeyemi 72 hours to withdraw the allegations or face civil and criminal action. His lawyers, Pinheiro LP, are demanding a public apology and the removal of the alleged defamatory posts.
