Admin I Tuesday, June 30, 2026
NIGERIA’S government has been rocked to its very foundations by an explosive corruption scandal involving a jaw-dropping £15 million “phantom agency” and allegations of multi-million-pound backhanders changing hands right inside the Presidency.
The escalating crisis has prompted former Vice President and opposition heavyweight Atiku Abubakar to issue an urgent warning to President Bola Tinubu, declaring that “indifference is not an option” and demanding the immediate suspension of his most trusted inner-circle aide.
At the eye of the brewing political storm is Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the powerful Chief of Staff to President Tinubu and former Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Gbajabiamila stands accused of orchestrated extortion and pocketing massive bribes in connection with a highly controversial government body known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
According to a devastating press release issued today by the Atiku Media Office, the former Vice President has thrown his full weight behind a series of sensational allegations originally raised by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the Director-General of the embattled council.
Prince Adeyemi caused absolute chaos in the West African nation last week by alleging that Gbajabiamila demanded a whopping 400 million Naira (approx. £220,000) via a proxy to facilitate his high-level presidential appointment.
Shockingly, the whistleblowing Director-General further claimed that the Chief of Staff aggressively demanded an additional 200 million Naira alongside a massive 48 percent cut of the agency’s multi-billion Naira take-off grant.
In a frantic attempt to shut down the swelling controversy, Gbajabiamila issued a sharp public disclaimer, insisting that the PFIPC does not legally exist under the current administration and dismissing Adeyemi as an outright fraudster.
However, opposition leader Atiku Abubakar has fiercely blasted that defence, pointing out that official government records paint an entirely different—and highly damning—picture.
Despite the Chief of Staff’s claims that the agency is a complete myth, investigators have discovered that the organisation is explicitly captured inside Nigeria’s official 2026 National Budget. The approved fiscal document outlines a massive allocation of up to 27.4 billion Naira (approx. £15 million) earmarked specifically for the “non-existent” council’s personnel, overheads, and capital projects.
Reacting to the shocking financial discrepancy, Atiku said:
”How can you allocate 27.4 billion Naira in the budget to a government agency that doesn’t exist without leaving more questions than answers?
This alleged colossal budgetary fraud cannot be swept under the carpet by weak and unconvincing explanations by the Chief of Staff.”
Atiku, who contested the country’s presidency under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) banner, warned that the bizarre anomaly completely obliterates the credibility of Nigeria’s entire 2026 national budget.
This latest scandal hits Nigeria at a time of immense economic volatility. President Bola Tinubu, who took office in 2023, has introduced highly controversial, sweeping fiscal reforms including the removal of long-standing fuel subsidies and the floating of the local currency.
While the UK government and international financial institutions have cautiously praised Tinubu’s market reforms, ordinary Nigerians are grappling with catastrophic, record-high inflation and a crippling cost-of-living crisis. Reports of top-tier institutional graft involving amounts that dwarf standard national projects have triggered immense public fury across major cities like Lagos and Abuja.
Furthermore, the scandal has taken a sinister, dark turn. Prince Adeyemi claims he has already survived a brutal assassination attempt along the notorious Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, during which vital documents and mobile phones containing digital trails to the presidency were stolen.
He also linked the saga to the highly mysterious and unresolved death of an alleged intermediary, Babatunde Tanimola, who reportedly perished in a suspicious hotel fire in Abuja late last year.
With tensions hitting a boiling point, Atiku has publicly challenged President Tinubu to prove his anti-corruption credentials by instantly removing his close ally to allow a completely independent investigation.
”Good governance is based on transparency and accountability, and you can’t achieve that by protecting your family and friends,” Atiku declared firmly. “President Tinubu must lead by example by holding his Chief of Staff to the same standards of accountability as other public officials.
”Twenty-seven billion Naira is not a joke. The rule of law must prevail in this issue. Let President Tinubu prove to Nigerians that he is sincerely committed to accountability in his administration.”
At press time, Downing Street and the UK Foreign Office are understood to be monitoring the unfolding political drama closely, as British investments and bilateral trade agreements with Nigeria rely heavily on the democratic stability and financial transparency of Africa’s largest economy.