PDP demands independent probe of Gbajabiamila over alleged villa job scam

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded an immediate independent forensic investigation into the deep-running corruption allegations involving the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and an alleged member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, Prince Adeniyi Matthew.

In a statement released on Sunday, the National Publicity Secretary of the Interim National Working Committee of the PDP, Comrade Ini Ememobong, stated that the scandal has exposed alarming recklessness, institutional failure, and systemic vulnerability at the highest level of the federal government.

The main opposition party was reacting to recent public accusations by Matthew, who claimed that the Chief of Staff solicited and received financial inducements to facilitate his appointment into the economic advisory council.

The PDP noted that the subsequent defense by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, which labeled Matthew a fraudster and an impostor, raises even more disturbing questions about the security and administrative integrity of the Presidential Villa.

Ememobong argued that if the presidency’s defense is taken at face value, it represents a staggering admission of incompetence, exposing how a supposed fraudster could freely secure office space at the Federal Secretariat, command posted civil servants, receive budgetary allocations, and operate official central bank accounts undetected.

“If the presidency’s account is correct, that Prince Matthew is an impostor, then it means the Federal Government is so porous and vulnerable,” the statement read.

“If, on the other hand, Prince Matthew’s account is accurate, that the Chief of Staff solicited and actually received bribes, then this is yet another act of shameless corruption.”

The opposition party further listed the development alongside past institutional blunders, including the N800 billion Progressive Governors Forum scandal, as clear evidence that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has completely abandoned the business of governance for political calculations.

Consequently, the PDP called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately suspend all key officials connected to the matter, order a comprehensive reorganization of the presidency, and issue an unreserved public apology to Nigerians for the national embarrassment.