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Grace Adeleke
Social Democratic Party presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has accused President Bola Tinubu of running what he called a “false government”, while acknowledging that the president was legitimately elected.
Adebayo made the allegation on Wednesday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs program 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 he said were unclear or not supported by enabling laws.
The SDP candidate’s comments came amid the ongoing investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission into allegedly fictitious government agencies operating within the federal government.
The ICPC said its investigation uncovered two additional entities allegedly created by the self-styled Director General of the Presidential Council for the Promotion of Foreign Investment, Adeniyi Adeyemi.
The commission identified the entities as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Investment and Public-Private Partnership.
According to the ICPC, counterfeit legislative instruments were used to create entities and facilitate the opening and management of bank accounts in their names.
The commission further said that the Presidential Council for the Promotion of Foreign Investment itself was not established by any valid law, executive order or other government instrument, while documents allegedly submitted by Adeyemi, including a letter of appointment and an official gazette, were found to be forged.
The ICPC recommended the prosecution of Adeyemi for alleged forgery, identity theft and related crimes, while calling for administrative sanctions against public officials whose acts or omissions may have facilitated the operation of the alleged agency.
The investigation was subsequently expanded.
On August 21, the ICPC announced the discovery of another allegedly fictitious office, the Office of National Brand Development and Made in Nigeria Special Projects, operating in the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Following the developments, 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 goes beyond individual agencies, insisting that the President is responsible for the structures established under his administration.
“The entire Tinubu administration itself is a fake government. It was not the government that was elected. It was Bola Ahmed Tinubu who was elected but instead of establishing a proper government in line with the constitution, he created a fake government,” he said.
Adebayo, however, recognized Tinubu’s constitutional mandate as president, arguing that the mandate required him to establish and run a government within the bounds of the law.
“He himself is a duly elected president, but he decided to establish a fake government because his government does not respect the law,” he added.
He urged the President not to limit efforts to sanitize the government to identifying a few allegedly fictitious agencies.
“So President Tinubu should not waste time trying to isolate one or two, three fake agencies. The entire government itself is fake,” Adebayo said.
The SDP candidate argued that government agencies cannot create themselves, stressing that the executive authority behind their creation should be held accountable.
“Let us be careful when we talk about false agencies to know that the agency did not create itself. It is the president who used falsehood to run the government,” he said.
Adebayo also criticized what he described as deviations from the government’s constitutional objectives, particularly the social and economic objectives contained in Chapter Two of the 1999 Constitution.
He said ministries, government contracts and agencies should be established and managed in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws.
“And if you are going to establish a government, establish a government in line with chapter two of the Constitution,” he said.
“If I intend to make you a minister, you will implement what is contained in chapter two. If I intend to award contracts, I will award them in line with chapter two.”
Adebayo also accused the administration of poor budget execution and said public resources were being used without proper accountability.
“The president is now surrounded by fake people, from the villa to the ministries to the agencies,” he said.
He said the President had failed to fully utilize the mandate given to him by Nigerians to establish a government that citizens could recognize and hold accountable.
“He is wasting the mandate given to him to form a government by simply letting anyone who knows him go around doing whatever they want,” Adebayo said.
The SDP candidate argued 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, the constitutional mandate that he was given to form the government, is still there. So he can still leave now, dissolve what he has now and start again,” he said.
Adebayo further alleged that the Tinubu administration had concentrated a significant portion of federal contracts in the hands of a few companies.
He claimed that 74% of the contracts awarded by the administration had gone to six companies, further claiming that four of them were linked to the President.
“74% of all contracts awarded by President Tinubu are awarded to just six companies,” he said.
“And four of the companies are companies related to him. Isn’t that a fake document? Isn’t that against the law?” he asked.
The SDP candidate did not provide details or documentary evidence for the contractual allegation during the interview.
Adebayo said an SDP administration would scrutinize government agencies against their implementing laws and the constitutional objectives of the Nigerian state.
He also revealed that Professor Usman Bugaje would be his running mate.
According to him, his administration will ensure that constitutional provisions guide the functioning of the federal government.
Adebayo specifically stated that the vice president will chair the National Economic Council in accordance with the Constitution, rejecting the designation of the finance minister as “coordinating minister.”
“He will automatically become president of the Economic Council, as the Constitution provides. I will not say that the Finance Minister is the coordinating minister. This is against the Constitution,” he said.
He added that his administration will subject all government agencies to the respective laws of the National Assembly and evaluate their performance against the objectives contained in chapter two of the Constitution.
“I will take all the agencies and tie them to the National Assembly Act and compare them to the parameters of Chapter Two of the Constitution,” he said.
The SDP candidate also promised to remove police personnel from what he described as political posts, saying the force should focus on law enforcement and protecting 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 leave the police from politics. No policeman should approach a politician unless he wants to go and arrest the politician or collect evidence from him,” Adebayo said.
“So also from the Villa, from all the government offices, I will withdraw all the police.”
Adebayo’s charges come as the ICPC continues its investigation into allegedly 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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