Pressure is mounting on President Bola Tinubu to act against his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar publicly demanded his suspension over the N54 billion NUPRC fraud allegations, the latest scandal to trail the presidential aide.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, said in a statement issued by his media office on Tuesday that he was baffled by the scale of the alleged corruption behind the N54 billion NUPRC fraud claims and insisted they could not be left unprobed. He was reacting to a Peoples Gazette investigation alleging that Gbajabiamila diverted tens of billions of naira in oil and gas royalties from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission by citing a law that does not exist.
According to the Peoples Gazette report, which cites a memo dated 4 July 2023, Gbajabiamila asked that four per cent of NUPRC’s annual cost of collection be split into two portions, with 2.5 per cent for the Commission’s operations and 1.5 per cent, equal to N54 billion, ring-fenced for what the memo vaguely described as upgrading crude oil and gas metering and transparency systems. The Gazette reported that the memo cited Section 24(2)(c) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2023 as authority for the directive, even though the same law assigns appropriation power over NUPRC’s funds to the National Assembly rather than the presidency.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga defended the Chief of Staff, telling the Gazette that the presidential order given to NUPRC was within Tinubu’s rights as president and commander-in-chief and that there was no smoking gun in the matter.
Atiku drew a direct comparison with former President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to suspend his Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, in 2017 to allow an unfettered corruption investigation. He argued that Gbajabiamila should not be treated any differently in the N54 billion NUPRC fraud matter, he said suspending him would not amount to a declaration of guilt but would demonstrate the administration’s commitment to accountability.
The former Vice President accused Tinubu government of applying double standards in its anti-corruption drive over the N54 billion NUPRC fraud allegations, saying it has been quick to pursue opposition figures while shielding senior officials within its own ranks. He said Gbajabiamila must be held accountable like every other public official and independently investigated to give him the opportunity to defend himself against what he called a brazen act of corruption.
The N54 billion NUPRC fraud allegation is the latest in a string of controversies trailing Gbajabiamila since he became Chief of Staff in 2023. Atiku’s statement referenced earlier claims that the Georgia State Bar terminated Gbajabiamila’s law licence in 2020 following a five-year suspension imposed in 2015 over allegations that he misappropriated funds belonging to a client.
He is also separately fighting a set of allegations from Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as director-general of now infamous PFIPC, a body the Presidency has since disowned as fictitious. Adeyemi alleged at a press conference that Gbajabiamila collected N400 million through a proxy to facilitate his appointment, later demanded a further N200 million, and separately asked for 48 per cent of the council’s purported N27.4 billion take-off grant, a request Adeyemi said he rejected.
Gbajabiamila has denied ever meeting or dealing with Adeyemi, said his signature on the disputed appointment letter was forged, and filed a N10 billion defamation suit against him. Adeyemi has since been arrested and charged with forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence, though he maintains the allegations against Gbajabiamila. Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the entire PFIPC affair, including how the disputed agency secured a budget allocation of more than N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
As of Tuesday, the Presidency had not issued a fresh response specifically addressing the N54 billion NUPRC fraud claims, and Gbajabiamila had not publicly commented on the allegations. Nigerians will now be watching to see whether the N54 billion NUPRC fraud controversy prompts the same swift action Buhari took against Babachir Lawal, or whether it joins the list of scandals the Presidency has so far declined to act on.
