By Justice A.M. Liman

The relentless campaign of malicious and tendentious allegations against the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, in connection with the so-called “fake agency” scandal must be confronted with facts, logic, and a firm defence of due process.
At the centre of this controversy is one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi (also referred to as Mathew Adeniyi Adeyemi), a man the Presidency has publicly described as an impostor and serial con artist. He is currently facing criminal prosecution for forgery, impersonation, operating a fictitious government agency (the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council or PFIPC), and maintaining dozens of fraudulent bank accounts in the names of phantom entities. Police investigations, triggered by a formal petition from Gbajabiamila himself in October 2025, established that the agency does not exist and that Adeyemi forged an appointment letter bearing a purported signature of the Chief of Staff.
Gbajabiamila was not a beneficiary of this scam—he was its foremost exposer. He alerted the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police, leading directly to Adeyemi’s arrest and the unraveling of the elaborate fraud. It is therefore grotesque for the same individual now facing serious criminal charges to turn around and level sensational accusations of bribery, corruption, abuse of office, and worse against the very man who helped expose him.
These new allegations are not only uncorroborated; they are riddled with fatal contradictions. Adeyemi once claimed Gbajabiamila issued or signed his appointment letter. He now admits he has never met Gbajabiamila in person. His lurid claims of demanding shares of take-off funds or involvement in concealment of wrongdoing collapse under the weight of his own shifting narrative and the established fact that the agency was a phantom of his own creation.
The Presidency has already cleared the Chief of Staff, dismissing the accusations as fabrications by a discredited impostor. Internal processes and police investigations have found no basis for the claims against him. Yet some opposition voices and social media agitators continue to demand his suspension “for optics” or to enable a “transparent investigation.”
Such calls are not only unfair—they are dangerous.
Suspension on the say-so of a man standing trial for forgery and impersonation would invert the presumption of innocence and set a perilous precedent. It would hand every aggrieved criminal, political opponent, or mischief-maker a ready weapon to paralyse key government functionaries through mere allegation. Effective governance cannot survive if the President is compelled to sideline his most trusted aide every time a discredited forger stages a press conference.
Gbajabiamila has responded with characteristic firmness, issuing a pre-action notice and threatening a ₦10 billion defamation suit if the false claims are not retracted. He has every right to defend his name and office through the law. The appropriate forum for Adeyemi’s accusations—if he has any credible evidence—is the courtroom where he is already answering charges, not the court of public opinion or political blackmail.
The ₦1.3 billion budget line referenced in some reports has also been addressed by the Senate, which clarified that the National Assembly neither created nor inserted it and bears no responsibility for vetting supposed appointees to MDAs. Bureaucratic lapses that allowed a fraudster to operate from government premises for a period are being addressed through proper channels; they do not implicate the Chief of Staff who moved swiftly to expose the scam once it came to his attention.
President Bola Tinubu has implicit confidence in his Chief of Staff. Any internal review has found no wrongdoing. Yielding to orchestrated pressure by suspending a loyal, competent, and effective aide on the uncorroborated word of a proven impostor would not demonstrate strength—it would signal that falsehood and political vendetta can override facts and due process.
The truth shall always vindicate the just. Femi Gbajabiamila has nothing to hide and everything to gain from the full light of proper investigation and legal scrutiny. Those peddling these tendentious allegations should be prepared to substantiate them in court or withdraw them with the apology the law and decency demand.
Nigeria deserves governance unhindered by distraction and smear. The President is right to stand by his Chief of Staff. The rest of us should stand by the rule of law.