Adeyemi/Gbajabiamila PFIPC scandal: Afenifere urges media to take a closer look and thoroughly examine likely of political dimension to it.
Yoruba leadibg socio-political group,Afenifere has called on the media to take a closer and thorough look at the PFIPC affair involving one Aseniyi Adeyemi and Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu,Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and examine the likelihood of a political dimension and what it described as hidden fingers behind the scandal.
This is contained in a statement by Nationsl Organising Secretary of the group Otunba Kole Omololu in Lahos late Friday.
Full statement below:
Is There a Political Dimension to the Adeniyi Adeyemi Affair? Hidden Fingers behind it?
Ever since the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention
Promotion Council (PFIPC) emerged, many Nigerians have sought to understand how Prince
Adeniyi Adeyemi was able to present himself as the head of an organisation which the Presidency has since stated was never lawfully established.
For many observers, the affair raises questions that extend beyond Adeyemi himself. They argue that the sophistication with which the organisation operated warrants a thorough investigation into whether others may have assisted, encouraged or benefited from its activities.
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Those questions, however, can only be answered through credible evidence and an impartial investigation.
Against that background, attention has been drawn to the response from the camp of former
Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Within a relatively short period, three separate public statements were issued commenting on the controversy.
The first, by Atiku Abubakar’s Senior Political Assistant, Demola Olarenwaju, called for the
dismissal and investigation of the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.
One hour later, this was followed by a statement from Atiku’s spokesman, Paul Ibe, which
questioned reported budgetary provisions allegedly linked to the PFIPC. Six hours later, again
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, through a statement signed by his spokesman, Phrank
Shaibu, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order a comprehensive investigation into the
matter.
The speed and sequence of these interventions have inevitably attracted public attention and
suspicion and political commentary. Shakespeare’s observation in Hamlet that “The lady doth
protest too much, methinks” and Ian Fleming’s famous remark that “Once is happenstance.
Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action” have been cited by some commentators
to illustrate why the timing has generated debate. Whether those comparisons have any
relevance is ultimately a matter of opinion rather than established fact.
What should not be lost amid the political exchanges is the central issue: how an organisation
that the Presidency says never existed as a lawful presidential body came to acquire the
appearance of official recognition and engage with public institutions.
As such, Afenifere calls on the media to take a closer look at the PFIPC affair and thoroughly
examine its origin, operations and those connected with it. The media should continue to
scrutinise the facts and follow the evidence wherever it leads.
This appears like the de ja vu that US Congressman William Jefferson initially felt during the
highly celebrated financial scandal that prominently featured the name of former Vice
President Atiku Abubakar who was alleged to be the principal beneficiary of Jeffersongate.
Otunba Kole Omololu.
National Organising secretary Afenifere
