You either like or hate him for whatever reason shame has never existed in the dictionary of Emi-lokan. The man believes no shameful act exists to disturb his peace. His credentials are non-existence. His records are all enmeshed in fraud. He is a 360-degree fraud and trickster that loves priding as a stubborn politician. He is stubborn because he misuses state machinery at his disposal to silence the voice of reason and opposition that he fears most. Where then is his stubbornness? He knows he is hated by the majority and admired by clowns, sycophants and jesters even within the All Progressives Congress (APC) fold where he manipulates without resistance.
Nigerians made the most costly mistake for allowing the swearing-in of such a character as their president in 2023. We are all paying for that mistake in the hardest of ways. We are surviving on probability and forced to tolerate fraud and trick as a way of life.
Today, the ‘fictitious’ Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), a suspected creation of Tinubu administration is the newest albatross hovering around the corridors of power.
One Prince Adeniyi Adeyeimi, as an agent provocateur, was forced by circumstances to expose some of the hitherto hidden truths about the Tinubu model of governance imposed on Nigerians by the judiciary in connivance with the Prof Mahmoud Yakubu led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
From the ingredients of the damning exposure, there certainly several others that are, yet to be fished within the system. But we can only reap from their reservoir of dreary tales when their stories are bitter for release including cases of bribery before considered for any political appointment or even entry to the presidential villa.
But what is really the issue at stake presently? As we came to know recently, Prince Adeyemi has been a very silent powerful member of the amorphous, omnibus arrangement that wears the head of a hydra.
As a smart politician, he warmed his way into the undefined system. He had been sipping his own cup of milk with relish. But it now looks like somebody somewhere has become red-eyed with Adeyemi’s hurriedly contrived paradise. And so the bubble had to burst. Somebody called Adeyemi out for allowing the crime to go soar.
Interestingly, Adeyemi is not shying away from the fight brought to his door step. He is dutifully exposing the fragile underbelly of those who dared to dare him.
As the game started, Nigerians were awakened to a scandalous revelation that commonsense could not believe. Something about a Federal Government Agency called Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) that assumed a gargantuan presence. Now, all manner of stories are woven around it. The man at the centre of the unfolding drama is a certain Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi .
Adeyemi boldly said he is the Director-General of PFIPC as ‘officially’ appointed by the Tinubu led Federal Government.
According to him, the federal government agency is mandated to attract foreign investments to Nigeria. It also serves as a resource and coordinating centre for the country’s foreign investment promotion activities. PFIPC from what has come to be known, had been in operation since 2024, and suddenly, the office of Tinubu’s Chief of Staff woke up to say that the agency does not exist by establishment; that it is fake and fictitious. This sounds funny, ridiculous and unbelievable.
But Prince Adeyemi who claims to have been officially appointed, furiously rejected the statement by the Chief of Staff. Instead, he revealed that the Chief of Staff to Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila knows everything about his appointment; that it was Gbajabiamila that signed and issued the appointment letter that landed him the job. He even accused Gbaja of engaging in dangerous duplicity.
But, Gbaja couldn’t go to bed without firing a response to the weighty allegation. He unleashed his goons and magadogs on Adeyemi. The Director-General of the controversial agency is accused of being a serial con man. They alleged that he has a history of shady and shadowy engagements. For Gbaja and his clan, the latest controversy surrounding Adeyemi’s appointment is in line with what he is already known for. It is all claims and counterclaims. Should Nigerians dusty the files of Gbaja from the closet for public scrutiny?
As the musical chair goes on, Adeyemi, seems to have released more damning evidence against the system than the doubting evidence Gbaja released. He told Nigerians and the world that the office of the Secretary of the Federation (SGF) knows about his appointment. He released official documents ‘originating’ from that office that indicate the existence of the agency on government records. In the face of these confusing scenarios, a criminal prosecution of Prince Adeyemi has begun.
The presidency accused him of operating a fictitious government agency, and forging an appointment letter signed by the Chief of Staff to the President. Here lies the snag. How will commonsense reconcile the presidency’s claims with the damning evidence that documents from the office of the SGF reveal? That is where we are.
Each of the suspects is claiming innocent. However, regardless of the claims and counterclaims, a serious infraction can be established from what has already transpired. Some appointees of the president have serious questions to answer including how they got appointed to the positions they occupy. Adeniyi Adeyemi, who the presidency described as self-styled DG of a non-existent agency, also has questions to answer. No matter which side of the divide one pursues to have sympathy for, the undeniable fact is that the ongoing show of shame is a pointer to the rot in the system brought about by cluelessness and sentiments.
Already we know that the Tinubu administration has a lot of questionable sides. There are many issues of governance that need to be strengthened and re-strengthened. The Presidential Council scandal will do more damage to the crisis of negative perception that the government faces. The scandal is a major blot on the already battered face of the administration. It needs to be addressed if the government still cares about the negative perception of the people. Rather than rushing to Court to prosecute Adeyemi, government needs to, first and foremost, look inwards. Who and who within the offices of the Chief of Staff and the SGF collaborated or connived with him? if Adeyemi’s appointment is irregular as claimed, some people at the presidency must have a hand in it. The presidency cannot afford to take a passing interest in this matter no matter who is involved. It should ensure that those with hands in the embarrassing development are brought to book. That’s if the government is honest itself.
But Nigerians will not be surprised if Tinubu and the National Assembly sweep the matter under a thick carpet. The government we are very familiar with has never shown interest in such issues. Its consuming interest lies more with the affairs of 2027 reelection not the reputation of the government and Nigeria. Regardless of this overarching concentration on 2027, Nigerians hardly know what to expect as they transit into the election year. This is because the government in power is navigating from the serious to the very opposite. Even what could have passed the test of the serious has been handled with such incredible levity to the extent that they have come to assume the toga of the ridiculous.
A matter as serious as the process for the selection of candidates of political parties for the 2027 elections is supposed to be treated with utmost seriousness it deserves. But the trivia that we witness on daily basis seems to negate everything that we take serious about elections. Here, it is important to underline the fact that elections constitute the most defining feature of democracy. It is only when the people, through electoral processes, are given the opportunity to choose those that will govern them that we can say that democratic governance is in place. This hallowed essence of democracy is being freely abused and subverted by the present order in Nigeria.
In today’s Nigeria, election and electioneering have been so cheapened that APC and its, hence men, do not want democracy to thrive for fear of humiliating defeat. Opposition political parties are systematically and abrasively being blocked from taking active part in the coming elections. The powerful elite at the commanding heights of the country do not want the unpopular government of the day to face the people’s referendum.
This is being done in connivance with the electoral umpire (INEC), and the judiciary. Nigerians used to think that Nigeria could boast of incorruptible judges. But they now know better. The temple of justice is now a business centre.
Our Courts have become casual arenas for all manner of rascality and deviancy. They have become centres of despoliation and extortion. That’s why those who do not want the will of the people to prevail such as Nyeson Ezonwo Wike find the Courts amenable avenues for their deviant plots. This dangerous disposition of the Courts serves the interest of APC and their Emi-lokan. That explains why matters like the Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi scandal will end up like a storm in a teacup. It does not fit into the category of matters that the Tinubu government would devote its time dealing with.
Already, Tinubu has exonerated his Chief of Staff from any implication in the scandal. He gave him a clean bill of health without trial or even a query. It is business as usual. And that’s the man piloting the affairs of the Giant of Africa. But is it not unfortunate for Nigerians to have such characters tolerated in leadership? Those of us that read the writing on the wall earlier are regretting why Nigerians are docile and greedy to have allowed a living dead to lead their country. Anyway, all is not lost. We are strategizing and hoping for an aggressive change of the tide in 2027 for prosperous Nigeria of our pride.
Muhammad is a commentator on national issues
