Turaki PDP Faction Demands Independent Probe Of Presidency Scandal
Pressure on the Presidency over the affair of a disputed government council widened on Sunday as the Tanimu Turaki faction of the Peoples Democratic Party demanded a full, independent investigation into the allegations and counter allegations trailing the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila. The faction argued that the controversy had grown too serious to be settled by internal reviews or official statements alone, and warned that leaving it unresolved would deepen public distrust in government institutions.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the faction’s Interim National Working Committee said the matter demanded a credible inquiry capable of establishing the truth and holding any culpable person to account. It called on President Tinubu to order what it described as a forensic investigation by a reputable firm of international standing, suspend all key officials connected to the matter, reorganise the Presidency, and issue a public apology to Nigerians.
The dispute at the centre of the storm concerns Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who presented himself as Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, an office sometimes paired in official documents with a so called Presidential Economic Advisory Council. The Presidency has since disowned both bodies as fictitious. Adeyemi, on his part, insists his appointment was genuine and has alleged that Gbajabiamila received N400 million through an intermediary to facilitate the appointment, with a balance of N200 million still outstanding. He has further claimed that the Chief of Staff demanded 48 per cent of a purported take off grant of about N27.4 billion, and that his refusal to part with the share triggered his troubles.
The Presidency has firmly rejected the claims. In a statement issued through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, it maintained that Adeyemi was an impostor operating a non existent agency on the strength of a forged appointment letter. According to the Presidency, appointments into government offices are handled by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, not the Chief of Staff, and Gbajabiamila neither appointed Adeyemi nor recognised the council he claimed to lead. The Presidency added that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, nine of them opened in the names of fictitious agencies, and that he was arrested by the police on October 27, 2025, after Gbajabiamila petitioned security agencies on October 17. The Nigeria Police later filed an eight count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery and impersonation against Adeyemi and two others before the Federal High Court, Abuja, with the case listed for hearing on July 27, 2026.
The Turaki faction framed the episode as damaging to the government whichever way it turned. The statement said that if the Presidency’s account is accurate and Adeyemi is indeed an impostor, then it points to a serious failure of state institutions. “How could an impostor operate freely and undetected at the highest level of government?” the faction asked, questioning how such a person could reportedly be allocated office space at the Federal Secretariat complex, provided with staff, given budgetary provisions and permitted to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria. If, on the other hand, Adeyemi’s claims are found to be true, the faction said, it would amount to another instance of corruption. Either way, it argued, “Nigerians are the ultimate losers.”
The faction went further, listing what it called a pattern of embarrassments from the Presidential Villa, including the reported appointment of deceased persons into government offices, the inclusion of undeserving individuals on a presidential pardon list, and what it referred to as an N800 billion Progressive Governors Forum scandal. These characterisations represent the position of the opposition faction and have not been independently established.
The demand echoes calls made days earlier by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, whose media office also pressed for an independent and transparent inquiry, questioning how an agency described as fictitious could reportedly maintain offices within the Federal Secretariat, engage senior officials and appear to secure a provision in the 2026 budget. The Centre for the Defence of Human Rights has separately urged that Gbajabiamila step aside while any probe is conducted. Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has taken up Adeyemi’s defence.
Several strands of the affair remain unresolved and contested. No bank records, receipts or other independent evidence establishing the bribery allegation have been made public, and Gbajabiamila has not personally responded to the specific claim. The matter is also complicated by the death of Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, described as an alleged intermediary in the affair, who reportedly died in a fire at a hotel in the Utako area of Abuja on October 22, 2025. With criminal proceedings already before the Federal High Court, some commentators have cautioned that public pronouncements risk straying into sub judice territory.
The controversy also draws on a longer history. Adeyemi previously drew public attention in 2016 when he presented himself as a leader of the World Youth Organisation, described at the time as an affiliate of the United Nations, a claim the world body was reported to have disowned.
As the 2027 general elections draw closer, opposition actors have increasingly cast the dispute as a test of the administration’s willingness to police itself. The Turaki faction put it plainly, saying the Presidency “owes Nigerians more than explanations,” and warning that unresolved scandals would continue to widen what it called a growing trust deficit. For now, the competing accounts of Adeyemi and the Presidency are set to be tested where they may ultimately be resolved, in court.