Grace Adeleke
The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has accused President Bola Tinubu of running what he described as a “fake government,” despite acknowledging that the President was legitimately elected.
Adebayo made the allegation on Wednesday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State.
He was reacting to the alleged proliferation of government agencies, commissions, committees and offices whose mandates, according to him, were either unclear or unsupported by enabling laws.
The SDP candidate’s comments came amid the ongoing investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission into purportedly fictitious government agencies operating within the Federal Government.
The ICPC had said its investigation uncovered two additional entities allegedly created by the self-styled Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, Adeniyi Adeyemi.
The commission identified the entities as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public Private Partnership.
According to the ICPC, forged legislative instruments were allegedly used to create the entities and facilitate the opening and operation of bank accounts in their names.
The commission also said the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council itself was not established by any law, Executive Order or other valid government instrument, while documents allegedly presented by Adeyemi, including an appointment letter and gazette, were found to have been forged.
The ICPC recommended Adeyemi’s prosecution for alleged forgery, impersonation and related offences, while calling for administrative sanctions against public officers whose acts or omissions may have facilitated the operation of the purported agency.
The investigation was subsequently widened.
On August 21, the ICPC announced the discovery of another purportedly fictitious office, the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, operating from the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Following the development, President Tinubu ordered the arrest of the alleged head of the office, Nwabueze Buchi George, and the suspension of three permanent secretaries.
Reacting to the controversy, Adebayo argued that the problem went beyond individual agencies, insisting that the President bore responsibility for the structures established under his administration.
“The whole Tinubu administration itself is a fake government. It wasn’t the government that was elected. It was Bola Ahmed Tinubu that was elected but instead of setting up a proper government in line with the constitution, he set up a fake government,” he said.
Adebayo, however, acknowledged Tinubu’s constitutional mandate as President, arguing that the mandate required him to establish and operate a government within the limits of the law.
“He himself is a duly elected president, but he decided to set up a fake government because his government doesn’t follow the law,” he added.
He urged the President not to restrict efforts to sanitise government to the identification of a few allegedly fictitious agencies.
“So President Tinubu should not waste his time trying to isolate one or two, three fake agencies. The whole government itself is fake,” Adebayo said.
The SDP candidate argued that government agencies could not independently create themselves, stressing that the executive authority behind their establishment should be held accountable.
“Let us be careful when we’re discussing fake agency to know that the agency didn’t create themselves. It is the president who used fakery to run government,” he said.
Adebayo also faulted what he described as deviations from the constitutional objectives of government, particularly the social and economic objectives contained in Chapter Two of the 1999 Constitution.
He said ministers, government contracts and agencies should be established and operated in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws.
“And if you’re going to set up a government, you set up a government in line with Chapter Two of the Constitution,” he said.
“If I’m going to make you a minister, you are going to implement what is in Chapter Two. If I’m going to award contracts, I award in line with Chapter Two.”
Adebayo further accused the administration of poor budget implementation and alleged that public resources were being deployed without adequate accountability.
“The president is now surrounded by fake people, right from the villa to the ministries to the agencies,” he alleged.
He said the President had failed to fully utilise the mandate given to him by Nigerians to establish a government that citizens could recognise and hold accountable.
“He is wasting the mandate given to him to form a government by just having anybody who knows him goes around to do what they like,” Adebayo said.
The SDP candidate maintained that Tinubu could still dissolve the existing structure and rebuild his administration around what he described as constitutional governance.
“Tinubu has the right to dissolve it now because the democratic mandate, constitutional mandate given to him to form government is still there. So he can still go now, dissolve what he has now and start afresh,” he said.
Adebayo also alleged that the Tinubu administration had concentrated a significant proportion of federal contracts in the hands of a few companies.
He claimed that 74 per cent of contracts awarded by the administration had gone to six companies, alleging further that four of them were associated with the President.
“Seventy-four percent of all the contracts awarded by President Tinubu are awarded to only six companies,” he alleged.
“And four of the companies are companies associated with him. Is that not a fake document? Is that not against the law?” he asked.
The SDP candidate did not provide details or documentary evidence for the contract allegation during the interview.
Adebayo said an SDP administration would review government agencies against their enabling laws and the constitutional objectives of the Nigerian state.
He also disclosed that Professor Usman Bugaje would serve as his running mate.
According to him, his administration would ensure that constitutional provisions guide the operation of the Federal Government.
Adebayo specifically said the Vice-President would chair the National Economic Council in accordance with the Constitution, rejecting the designation of the finance minister as a “coordinating minister.”
“He’s automatically going to be chairman of the Economic Council as is the Constitution. I will not say minister of finance is coordinating minister. That’s against the Constitution,” he said.
He added that his administration would subject all government agencies to their respective Acts of the National Assembly and assess their performance against the objectives contained in Chapter Two of the Constitution.
“I’m going to take all the agencies and tie them to the Act of National Assembly and I will juxtapose them with the metrics of Chapter Two of the Constitution,” he said.
The SDP candidate also promised to remove police personnel from what he described as political assignments, saying the force should concentrate on law enforcement and protection of citizens.
He said an SDP government would withdraw police officers from the Presidential Villa and government houses, except where their services were required for legitimate law-enforcement duties.
“I will discharge police from politics. No policeman should go near a politician, except he wants to go and arrest the politician or take evidence from him,” Adebayo said.
“So, even from the Villa, from all the government houses, I will withdraw all the police.”
The allegations by Adebayo come as the ICPC continues its investigation into purportedly fictitious government structures, a development that has intensified scrutiny of the legal basis and oversight of some offices operating within the Federal Government.
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