Public affairs commentator, Mahdi Shehu has criticised the Presidency’s explanation regarding the alleged fake federal agency controversy, describing it as questionable, doubtful, suspect, contradictory, inconsistent and selective.
In a post shared on his official X hamdle on Thursday, Shehu questioned how an agency allegedly operating without proper legal backing was able to secure a budget allocation, recruit staff, open bank accounts and obtain office space within the Federal Secretariat without attracting the attention of government institutions.
He argued that even if the individual accused of forging an appointment letter is found guilty, there are bigger questions that government authorities must answer.
“Assuming without conceding that Ajibade forged his appointment letter, which is a criminal offence, who is responsible for the following bigger crimes?” he asked.
Shehu pointed to what he described as a series of institutional failures.
He noted that the agency reportedly had a budgetary allocation of about N1.3 billion approved through the national budget process before being signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
He also questioned how the agency allegedly recruited about 300 workers from the federal civil service, opened accounts with a commercial bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria, and secured office space at the Federal Secretariat.
According to him, these developments could not have happened without the involvement or knowledge of several government institutions.
He further questioned why security and anti-corruption agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), failed to detect any irregularities despite their roles in vetting public appointments.
“Even if Ajibade is culpable, many more ‘big men’ are very much,” he said.
Shehu maintained that the Presidency’s account of the controversy leaves many unanswered questions and exposes what he described as serious weaknesses within the country’s public institutions.
“If anything, the explanation coming from the Presidency regarding the ‘fake’ agency is questionable, doubtful, suspect, contradictory, inconsistent, selective and indeed exposes the system, top to bottom, as being sufficiently and extensively vulnerable,” he wrote.
He added that in a properly functioning society, such an incident would attract greater accountability, with those responsible stepping down or facing prosecution.
“In a normal society, nothing close to this will ever happen and if per adventure it does, decent heads will bow out and many more heads will role into prison,” he said.
Recall that the Presidency had earlier stated that Adeyemi forged official documents, created fictitious presidential agencies and falsely portrayed himself as a government official.
In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said Adeyemi would be arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 27 to face charges of forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.
