For the past few weeks, the PFIPC scandal has dominated our national discourse. The allegations, the counter-allegations, the documents, the denials, all of it has played out in the public square with the intensity of a courtroom drama. And like any good drama, it has produced its share of heroes and villains, depending on which side of the political divide you happen to stand.
Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, a private citizen who somehow managed to convince multiple government institutions that he was a presidential appointee, has alleged that he paid N400 million through a proxy to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. He also claimed that an additional N200 million was still being demanded.
And just to complete the picture, he alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded 48 percent of a N27.3 billion take-off grant meant for the agency he claimed to head. These are serious allegations. They are also, on the face of it, the kind of allegations that would make even the most seasoned politician choke on his breakfast.
The Presidency firmly rejected Adeyemi’s claims. According to the official statement, Gbajabiamila is not the villain of this story but the hero. In October 2025, following complaints from officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission that another government entity was operating at cross-purposes with them, the Chief of Staff petitioned the DSS and the Police. He described the perpetrators as “fraudsters and imposters” who were forging appointment letters from his office. The police arrested Adeyemi on October 27, 2025, and recovered forged documents from his office and residence. He is now standing trial on eight counts, with the next hearing scheduled for July 27, 2026.
So we have two competing narratives. In one, Gbajabiamila is the mastermind who collected millions and is now trying to cover his tracks. In the other, he is the whistleblower who exposed a sophisticated fraud and is now being targeted by the very people he sought to protect. Depending on which side you sit, the Chief of Staff is either a criminal or a martyr. There is no in-between. Or so we are told.
But here is the thing. While the politicians and their apologists have been busy trading accusations, something remarkable has happened. Something that does not happen often in our politics. Across party lines, across ideological divides, across the usual fault lines that separate us, a consensus has emerged. Nigerians from all corners of the political spectrum are demanding the same thing: a thorough, transparent, and independent investigation into the PFIPC scandal.
Let me be clear about what I am not saying. I am not saying we all agree on who is to blame. I am not saying we all accept the same narrative. The ruling party and the opposition see this matter through different lenses. That is to be expected. That is politics.
But on the fundamental question, whether this scandal should be investigated properly, there is no disagreement.
We have found common ground. Everyone agrees that something went wrong. Everyone agrees that someone must be held accountable. Everyone agrees that this cannot be allowed to happen again.
The documents that have emerged are troubling, regardless of which side you support. The SGF’s office processed correspondence from the PFIPC as though it were a legitimate agency. The Head of Service granted a waiver to recruit 300 staff. The Accountant-General posted civil servants to its offices. The Budget Office allocated over N1.3 billion to it. The domain pfipc.gov.ng was registered through NITDA’s official channels. Whether the PFIPC was a genuine agency that was hijacked or a fictitious creation from the start, the question is the same: how did this happen, and who allowed it?
These are not questions for one party or the other. They are questions for all of us. Because the integrity of our institutions is not a partisan issue. When the SGF, the Head of Service, the Accountant-General, and the Budget Office can all be implicated in the same scandal, we have a problem that transcends party affiliation.
And this is where the “same page” argument becomes important. We may disagree on many things. We may disagree on who should be held accountable. We may disagree on what the investigation should conclude. But we should not disagree on the need for an investigation. We should not disagree on the need for transparency. We should not disagree on the need for accountability.
The investigation must be thorough. It must be independent. It must leave no stone unturned. It must not be a whitewash. It must not be a witch-hunt. It must be driven by the evidence, not by political convenience.
And when the investigation is complete, its findings must be made public. Nigerians have a right to know what happened, who was responsible, and what will be done to prevent a recurrence. Because if a private citizen can walk into the SGF’s office, secure a recruitment waiver from the Head of Service, open a CBN account through the Accountant-General, and secure a budget allocation of over N1.3 billion—all without anyone asking questions—then our institutions are in deeper trouble than any of us imagined.
This is what we should all be demanding.
On that, at least, we should all be on the same page.
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