•Tinubu and his chief of staff Femi Gbajabiamila
Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has said the tactics “employed by the Presidency to rescue” the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, from the mounting allegations surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal have exposed the Tinubu-led administration to even greater public ridicule and suspicion.
In a statement through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said while the dust raised by the scandal involving the self-acclaimed Director-General of the “supposed non-existent” Council, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, has yet to settle, “fresh revelations from the 2026 Appropriation Act have exposed a disturbing pattern of budgetary manipulations and the deliberate concealment of questionable projects in obscure agencies for the apparent purpose of diverting public funds”.
The former vice president noted that on page 2236 of the Appropriation Act, 2026, under the budget of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education — an agency established to address the national emergency of millions of out-of-school children — the Tinubu administration inserted billions of naira for road construction projects that have absolutely nothing to do with the Commission’s statutory mandate, reports Daily Trust.
According to the budget, about ₦1.4 billion was earmarked for the rehabilitation and construction of Obasanjo-Itele Road, Nazareth Road Oke Ola, Imeko, Idogo Township Road and the construction of Odedeyo-Mewuro Road. Another ₦1.4 billion was budgeted for a road from Eyini High School to Lusada Junction Road, Ibooro, Idiya Central Community Road, Roundabout Abeokuta, Ile Ise Community Asuje Road and Soyote Community Road in Abeokuta.
“Yet another ₦1.05 billion was set aside for Pakuj-Yporan Township Road in Ipokia Ward 2, while an additional ₦1.05 billion was allocated for RCC Opposite Honda Agbebi Community Road and Ajuwon Baale Road.”
“The question that naturally arises is this: Since when did the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education become a road construction agency?
“At a time when over 20 million Nigerian children remain outside the classroom, when schools are collapsing under the weight of neglect and when the Almajiri crisis continues to threaten the future of an entire generation, the decision to convert an education commission into a contractor for road projects represents not merely a distortion of priorities but a cruel betrayal of the very children the Commission was created to serve.
“The unavoidable conclusion is that the administration’s henchmen have once again resorted to the now familiar tactic of hiding questionable projects in backwater agencies where public scrutiny is minimal and where funds can be more easily diverted.
“This is the height of irresponsibility. It is the height of impunity. Indeed, it is the height of evil. Unfortunately, this is not the first time such dubious practices have emerged under the APC administration.”
He recalled that in the 2023 budget, funds meant for the Federal College of Education, Umunze, Anambra State, were allegedly deployed to execute constituency projects in Surulere I Federal Constituency of Lagos State on behalf of Gbajabiamila, who was then Speaker of the House of Representatives, while the institution itself was denied much-needed capital funding.
Atiku added that, “The latest revelations, therefore, cannot be dismissed as an isolated incident or a mere administrative error. They fit into an already discernible pattern of budget padding, insertions and diversions that have become a defining feature of governance under this administration.
“Equally troubling are the allegations made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claims that Mr. Gbajabiamila demanded billions of naira, including an alleged upfront payment of ₦400 million and nearly half of the agency’s proposed ₦27.4 billion take-off grant, amounting to an alleged demand of ₦12.5 billion, as a condition for securing his position as Director-General of the PFIPC.
“The Presidency cannot simply wave away these allegations with press statements and political sophistry when the evidence increasingly points to a disturbing culture of impunity.
“If Prince Adeyemi is indeed the fraudster that government spokespersons now portray him to be, why has he not been arraigned before a competent court of law since he was first invited for questioning late last year? Why is the organisation he runs reportedly still operating from the Federal Secretariat? How was he able to pay a courtesy visit to the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission while supposedly under investigation?
“These are legitimate questions that deserve answers. Indeed, this scandal is assuming proportions even more troubling than the Abdulrasheed Maina affair. In the Maina case, law enforcement agencies acted swiftly. Investigations were launched, arrests were made and prosecutions followed. Since this latest scandal erupted, however, the Tinubu administration has done little beyond issuing denials and unleashing its propaganda machinery.”
Atiku argued that Tinubu cannot claim ignorance of the developments, saying the Appropriation Act bears his signature.
“The agencies involved operate under his administration. If billions of naira can be hidden under agencies with no legal mandate to execute such projects, then either the President approved these distortions or he was completely unaware of what was happening under his watch.
“The first possibility would amount to complicity. The second would amount to an admission of an absentee presidency where consequential decisions are being taken without the knowledge or supervision of the President.
“The National Assembly must also explain how these bizarre appropriations escaped legislative scrutiny. Parliament was established as the watchdog of the public purse and not as an assembly whose principal function is to chant “On Your Mandate” while obvious irregularities sail through the appropriation process without interrogation.
“Nigeria cannot continue on this dangerous path where budgets are treated as instruments for patronage and public institutions are converted into conduits for questionable expenditures.
“The Nigerian people deserve answers, and this administration owes them nothing less than a full, transparent and independent investigation into these troubling revelations.”
