A legal consultant to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Jiti Ogunye, has argued that calls for his principal to resign over the alleged PFIPC scandal are unjustified.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Ogunye maintained that Gbajabiamila had the least official interaction with Prince AdeniyiAdeyemi, the individual at the centre of the controversy compared to other government officials.
According to him, if Gbajabiamila were expected to resign because of the ongoing controversy, several other public officials who had more direct dealings with the individual would also have to step aside.
Ogunye listed the Director-General of the Budget Office, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and the Accountant-General of the Federation among officials whose offices allegedly had more documented interactions with the individual.
He said available records, including official correspondence and documentation, showed that Gbajabiamila’s office had the least official engagement with the person in question.
The legal consultant questioned why the Chief of Staff had become the focus of calls for resignation, insisting that there was no basis to conclude that his continued stay in office would affect any investigation into the matter.
Ogunye described the focus on Gbajabiamila as “unfortunate,” arguing that officials who processed requests, generated correspondence and had more direct interactions with the individual were in a better position to answer questions arising from the controversy.
He said: ‘This man in the chain of those who dealt with him, if I were to say, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila is the least person, is the least authority that dealt with this man.
“So, if Mr. Gbajabiamila were to leave office because of this investigation that some people are calling for the United Nations to come and investigate, no institution in Nigeria is competent to investigate, who and who will leave the office?
“The DG Budget Office that dealt with the man on record, the head of service that dealt with the man on record, the SGF (Secretary to the Government of the Federation) whose office dealt with the man on record, and whose officer ensured that the man got an office at the federal secretariat, the accountant of the federation. All this will have to leave office. Is that what you are saying?
“If you look at the trails, the paper trail, the documentation, and all that, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila was the person who had the least official interaction with the man you are talking about.
“So, except there is something there that I do not know why people are going for his head. I don’t see how his being in office is so important or not important to the investigation that’s going to be conducted.
“So the point I’m making is that this fixation on Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila is rather unfortunate. I have just told us that those who dealt with the man, those who interacted with the man more, are the officers I have mentioned, generating letters, making requests on his behalf, and so on and so forth.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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