Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has renewed pressure on President Bola Tinubu to suspend his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, insisting that stepping aside would allow for a truly independent investigation into fresh corruption allegations trailing him. 

In a statement issued by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate said the presidency’s continued silence could not make the “unfolding” allegations against Gbajabiamila disappear.

Atiku’s latest intervention follows a report alleging that Gbajabiamila illegally cornered tens of billions of naira in oil and gas royalties from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, relying on what was described as a fake law to secure presidential backing.

The former vice president said the claims were too serious to be swept aside and required a transparent, impartial probe that would give the Chief of Staff room to clear his name while reassuring Nigerians that no official is above scrutiny.

Drawing a historical comparison, Atiku recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari suspended his Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, in 2017 to pave the way for an unhindered investigation into corruption allegations against him.

He argued that Gbajabiamila deserved no special treatment and that suspending him would not amount to a presumption of guilt, but rather a demonstration of the Tinubu administration’s commitment to transparency and the rule of law.

This is not the first time Atiku has called for the Chief of Staff’s suspension. The demand has followed him for weeks, beginning with allegations from Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claimed to be Director General of the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and accused Gbajabiamila of soliciting a N400 million bribe. Gbajabiamila had dismissed the council as non-existent, a claim Atiku seized on by noting that N27.4 billion had been allocated to the same agency in the 2026 national budget, a contradiction he said cast doubt on the credibility of the entire budget process.

President Tinubu has since directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the matter, giving the anti-graft agency 30 days to report back, but Atiku and his aides maintain that the probe means little if the officials implicated remain in office throughout.

The former vice president accused the Tinubu administration of operating double standards in its anti-corruption drive, alleging that opposition figures face swift scrutiny while allegations against senior government officials are treated with what he called apathy and indifference.

He insisted that democracy is about public service, not personal enrichment, and warned that failure to act on the allegations would deepen public mistrust in government at a time when ordinary Nigerians are grappling with hardship. Gbajabiamila has yet to issue a detailed public response to the latest allegations, and no independent probe specifically targeting him has been announced by the presidency.

Photo Credit: Leadership Newspaper