Femi Gbajabiamila, the President’s Chief of Staff, has lodged a grievance letter with the State Security Service (SSS) on what he terms as “false allegations and sustained campaign of calumny” directed against him.
The letter suggested that other security agencies might have also been instructed to begin investigations and was addressed to Yusuf Magaji Bichi, the Director General of the SSS.
Before taking the helm as Speaker in 2019, Mr. Gbajabiamila spent more than 20 years in the House of Representatives as the minority whip, minority leader (for eight years), and majority leader. A few days after President Bola Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023, he was named chief of staff to the newly elected leader.
In his letter to the SSS, the chief of staff lamented a sustained regime of smear campaigns against him. He therefore requested the security agency to investigate and fish out those spreading falsehood about him.
The letter was titled “Request for Investigation of False Allegations and Sustained Campaign of Calumny Against my Person by Unknown Elements.”
In the letter dated 9 January, 2023, Mr Gbajabiamila said: “Over the past six months, unknown individuals or groups have made a sustained effort using social media to spread unfounded allegations of corruption, malfeasance, and abuse of office against my person. This campaign of calumny has gotten progressively more aggressive in tone and content over the last month, thus necessitating this letter.
“I have served in the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the past two decades, first in the legislature, where I rose to the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and now in the executive as Chief of Staff to the President. In that time, my efforts to ensure probity in the management of public resources are well documented. As Speaker of the House of Representatives, I presided over the national budget for all ministries, departments and agencies for four years without blemish.
“While it is my inclination to ignore these attacks as part of the usual mischief of politics, my position as Chief of Staff to the President compels me to act because falsehoods left unchallenged soon take on the toga of truth. Furthermore, the aggressive escalation of these attacks suggests that the perpetrators of these attacks will continue until they are held to account. For these reasons, the stoic silence I have maintained on this matter thus far will no longer suffice.
“I am satisfied that I have not acted in any way to warrant or justify these attacks. Therefore, I am requesting your office to investigate the sources and substance of these false allegations. Rather than hide behind the anonymity of the internet, let my accusers be unmasked to substantiate their claims or face the consequences of their libel against me.”
The chief of staff to the president, therefore, requested “prompt intervention” of security agencies in the matter.
The letter indicated that “a selection of some of the more egregious attacks of the past few months” were attached to aid security agencies in their investigations.
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