Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in next year’s presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has called for the probe of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila over allegation involving N52 billion from an oil and gas regulatory fees.
Atiku in a statement by his media office, cited latest online report, which accused the Chief of Staff of “illegally cornering tens of billions of naira in oil and gas royalties from petroleum regulatory commission.”
The ADC presidential candidate described the level of corruption in the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government as “unprecedented”, adding that the government cannot pretend “to be prosecuting opposition figures for corruption, while corruption is growing like weed under its own nose.”
He reminded President Bola Tinubu that he cannot preach the rule of law when his own officials are “awarded with the trophy of untouchability.”
Atiku said Gbajabiamila must be held accountable like every other public official and independently investigated to give him full opportunity to defend himself against the act of corruption as detailed in the newspaper report.
He recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari suspended his Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal from office in order to allow for unfettered investigation against him, and said Gbajabiamila should not be treated differently.
Atiku alleged that Chief of Staff has been mentioned in multiple allegations of bribery and corruption that has tainted his office, adding that “given the apathetic and lackadaisical attitude of the Tinubu administration to the gales of corruption scandals against the Chief of Staff, it is apparent that the government is just going through the motions to fool Nigerians..
According to him, “Democracy is public service and when political office holders prioritise the amassing of personal wealth while the ordinary people are dying of hunger and preventable diseases, the Tinubu administration cannot pretend to be serving the people.”
