PHANTOM AGENCY: ‘Tinubu must probe NASS, CBN, Chief of Staff within one week’ — Baba-Ahmed
The national chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has faulted Nigeria presidency’s swift exoneration of the Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, in the unfolding scandal involving the alleged establishment of a “phantom” federal agency by an impostor.
Dr. Baba-Ahmed, a veteran technocrat and retired federal permanent secretary, described the development as an “unprecedented scandal” and a monumental institutional failure that could not have occurred without deep-seated collusion from high-ranking officials within the government.
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Speaking in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust, the elder statesman knocked the Tinubu administration’s handling of the matter, arguing that a mere press statement from the president’s spokesperson is insufficient to clear those implicated.
‘It is impossible for a stranger to penetrate the presidency’
Drawing from his extensive experience in the federal civil service bureaucracy, Dr. Baba-Ahmed stated that it is structurally impossible for an outsider to seamlessly operate a fake agency, secure office spaces at the federal secretariat, open an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and smuggle a budget line into the national budget without internal collaborators.
“It is impossible for a perfect stranger to walk into the Presidency, acquire offices and space within the budget, as well as funding, give himself a name, and engage in activities to the point where he draws the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidency, and security agencies,” Baba-Ahmed stated. “Somebody has either colluded with this gentleman or dropped the ball so badly.”
He further expressed shock at the level of access the suspect gained, noting that the individual even met with foreign diplomats and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
A systemic institutional collapse
The PRP chairman noted that the scandal exposes dangerous vulnerabilities at the highest echelons of Nigeria’s governance structure, implicating the National Assembly, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Head of Service, and the Accountant-General of the Federation.
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He questioned why key institutions failed to sound the alarm before the situation escalated.
“This is a complete failure,” he said. “Why do we have the same people who have failed to monitor this guy now speaking for themselves and the government? This is what is fundamentally wrong. It alarms you. There are massive gaps at the very highest echelons of government in this country.”
Call for an independent panel
While acknowledging that taking the suspect to court is a step in the right direction, Dr. Baba-Ahmed insisted that a judicial trial alone will not unmask the internal conspirators. He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to demonstrate leadership by bypassing implicated state agencies and setting up an independent commission of inquiry.
“The Presidency is the wrong agency to absorb this stuff. We need a body with sufficient integrity and competence to investigate this whole story from beginning to the end,” he urged.
He challenged President Tinubu to mandate an independent panel to probe the National Assembly, the CBN, the SGF office, and the Chief of Staff, with a strict directive to submit a comprehensive report directly to the President within one week.
However, the veteran administrator expressed skepticism about the administration’s political will to tackle the issue head-on. “I doubt whether the president has the guts to investigate all these key sensitive organisations under him, which appear to be part of the collusion,” Baba-Ahmed concluded.
