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By Bayo Gafarr
By any fair measure of public service, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila’s journey is a story of resilience, legislative courage, and enduring public confidence.
Few offices in Nigeria attract as much scrutiny as that of the Chief of Staff to the President. It is the office closest to the centre of executive power, and whoever occupies it inevitably becomes a lightning rod for criticism from political opponents, activists, and sections of the media.
For Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, that scrutiny recently reached another level with the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC). But what began as an allegation against the President’s Chief of Staff has, on the evidence publicly available, increasingly revealed a very different picture. Gbajabiamila was not the creator of the fictitious agency but was the man who raised the alarm over its activities.
Indeed, the Presidency said Gbajabiamila’s office had alerted security authorities after discovering suspicious activities connected to the purported agency. Reports also indicate that documents bearing his purported signature were allegedly forged.
Gbajabiamila subsequently honoured the invitation of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), cooperated with investigators, and returned to his official duties. The ICPC itself clarified that he was not arrested, but had voluntarily honoured its invitation as part of the investigation.
The whistleblower who became the subject of suspicion. There is an irony in the PFIPC saga that should not be lost on Nigerians. The man whose identity and signature were allegedly appropriated in the activities of a fictitious government body became one of the principal persons subjected to public suspicion over that same body.
Yet available accounts indicate that his office was among those that first drew attention to the alleged fraud. The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum and the progressive youths of Surulere subsequently described him as a whistleblower rather than a suspect, noting that he had alerted security agencies after suspicious activities came to light.
That is why the conclusion of the investigation matters. Where an investigation clears a public servant, that finding deserves the same publicity and seriousness that accompanied the original allegations.
The lesson should also go beyond Gbajabiamila. Nigeria must become a country where allegations are investigated vigorously and where exoneration is equally respected.
A record that did not begin in the Presidential Villa:
To understand why many Nigerians continue to repose confidence in Gbajabiamila, one must look beyond today’s headlines.
Before becoming Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Gbajabiamila spent years in the National Assembly and eventually became Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, serving from June 2019 to June 2023. He assumed the Chief of Staff position on June 14, 2023.
His speakership was defined by an ambitious legislative agenda and, at several critical moments, a willingness to deploy the authority of the House in defence of citizens.
Standing with Nigerians during the naira crisis:
One of the clearest examples came during the controversial naira redesign policy under former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.
As Nigerians struggled with cash shortages and the consequences of the policy’s implementation, Gbajabiamila and the House of Representatives criticised aspects of the policy and its implementation.
He specifically faulted the disregard of the Supreme Court’s order concerning the continued legal-tender status of the old notes and maintained that the policy had produced unnecessary hardship for Nigerians. When the Supreme Court subsequently ruled against the government’s deadline, Gbajabiamila welcomed the decision and urged the CBN to comply.
That episode demonstrated something fundamental about his understanding of legislative leadership. Government policy cannot be allowed to become an instrument of unnecessary suffering for the people.
The ASUU crisis and intervention beyond legislation:
Gbajabiamila also understood that the Speaker’s office could be more than a chamber for passing laws. During the prolonged dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), he personally engaged the union and government stakeholders in an effort to resolve the crisis and prevent the continued disruption of university education.
His intervention demonstrated the value of parliamentary diplomacy, using the influence of the legislature to bring disputing parties to the table rather than simply watching industrial disputes deteriorate.
Similar interventions were recorded in the health sector, including efforts that helped avert industrial action involving resident doctors. These interventions reinforced the idea that leadership sometimes means building bridges where confrontation has failed.
A 9th Assembly that left legislative footprints:
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Under Gbajabiamila’s leadership, the 9th House passed several pieces of legislation with long-term implications for Nigeria.
The most prominent was undoubtedly the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), legislation that had remained unresolved for about two decades. The National Assembly described its passage as a landmark achievement providing a legal, governance, regulatory, and fiscal framework for Nigeria’s petroleum industry, including provisions for host communities.
The 9th Assembly also passed the Electoral Act 2022 while pursuing reforms in policing, electricity, aviation, corporate administration, and other areas.
In his assessment of the 9th House, Gbajabiamila highlighted legislation including the Police Service Commission Act, amendments to the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, and reforms affecting the deep offshore petroleum regime. He also pointed to reforms of the federal budget process and aviation-sector legislation.
These accomplishments are part of the institutional record of the 9th Assembly, and Gbajabiamila was the presiding officer who provided its leadership.
From Speaker to Chief of Staff:
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to appoint Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff was hardly accidental. The President chose a man with extensive legislative experience, political reach, institutional knowledge, and an understanding of how government works across different branches.
Since assuming office in June 2023, Gbajabiamila has occupied one of the most consequential positions around the President. The State House officially describes him as the President’s Chief of Staff and records his previous service as Speaker of the 9th House.
The Chief of Staff is often the bridge between the President and the machinery of government, political stakeholders, legislators, and other political actors. Success in such an office is not always measured by what appears on television. Much of the work happens behind the scenes of coordination, consultation, problem-solving, access management, and ensuring that presidential decisions move through the system.
That proximity to the President also creates a political reality: when you are close to the centre of power, you become an obvious target.
For opposition parties and political adversaries preparing for the 2027 political contest, attacking the credibility of influential figures around the President can be politically attractive. But political contestation should never become a substitute for evidence.
Public confidence should not be destroyed by headlines. There is nothing wrong with scrutinising Gbajabiamila. Indeed, public officials must be scrutinised. They must answer legitimate questions. Institutions such as the ICPC must be allowed to investigate allegations without fear or favour.
But there is something fundamentally wrong with a system where an allegation can become a conviction before an investigation is concluded and where an exoneration is treated as an inconvenience after the headlines have disappeared.
For those who have followed Gbajabiamila’s public career, the PFIPC controversy does not erase the record that came before it. We have seen him occupy the highest leadership position in the House of Representatives, navigate difficult national moments, intervene in industrial disputes, champion legislative responses to economic hardship, and subsequently take on one of the most demanding administrative positions in the Presidency.
We have therefore never had cause to doubt his capacity, commitment, and integrity in public service.
The appropriate response to political attacks is not blind loyalty. It is confidence grounded in evidence, fairness, and a willingness to allow institutions to do their jobs.
If the ICPC’s findings have indeed cleared him, then that conclusion should be acknowledged without equivocation. And if further institutional questions remain concerning how a fictitious agency was able to penetrate the machinery of government, those questions should be answered too.
Gbajabiamila himself should take the outcome as another reminder that public office demands transparency, vigilance, and an even higher standard of accountability.
But he should also take heart from the people who have watched his journey over the years.
The noise will come and go. Political adversaries will come and go. Headlines will come and go. But a man’s record of service remains. And that record gives many Nigerians reason to remain confident.
Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila remains a household name synonymous with public service. A man whose capacity and integrity we have never had cause to doubt. Our confidence in him remains 100 percent.
• Bayo Gafarr is a former Fellow of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI) from Lagos State
•Bayo Gafarr is a former Fellow of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI) from Lagos State
