Public Affairs Analyst, Jake Epelle has urged Nigerians to focus on fixing the institutional failures that enabled the alleged ghost government agency controversy, warning against allowing political drama to overshadow accountability and lasting reforms.
Speaking in an interview on ARISE NEWS on Friday, following the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation’s admission that her office approved the establishment of the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council based on submitted documents, Epelle argued that the country’s attention should remain on uncovering those responsible for the alleged fraud and strengthening institutional safeguards.
“I think Nigeria should not be distracted. It’s a failed, weak institutional processes, institutional accountability. And we need to dig into this so that this will never happen again.”
Epelle said the debate should not centre solely on public admissions of responsibility but rather on identifying those who originated the alleged forged document. “We shouldn’t buy this diversionary tactics of those who actually committed this crime. And I think we should focus on three pertinent questions. And those questions are, who originated this allegedly forged document? Which institutional control failed? And what reform we must ensure that this can never happen again?”
He insisted that the alleged mastermind behind the controversy and every individual involved should be investigated and prosecuted, arguing that anything less would embolden future offenders. “This Prince Adeyemi is not a ghost… Bring those responsible and make sure that they end up in jail. Otherwise, there’ll be no deterrent. Somebody else can wake up tomorrow, claim that he’s Bola Tinubu and, you know, print fake identity card and go out there and say he’s the president of Nigeria. He will get away with it. This is wrong.”
Epelle commended the Head of the Civil Service, Mrs Esther Walson-Jack, for publicly accepting responsibility. “I must commend the head of service for being a responsible leader by taking responsibility… She’s the first in the line of leadership within this whole issue that has come out to say, I found out that we made a mistake. However, from what I know, you know, she was the first to detect this and alert everybody, look, there’s something wrong because she’s a lawyer and somebody who has practised law for a long time. So she was able to detect this.”
He emphasised that accountability should extend beyond institutional heads to every official directly involved in the alleged approvals. “Who are those in those institutions? Who is the person in those institutions that took this decision? That person should be questioned. And not necessarily their leaders who are now coming out to take responsibility. But that’s not the issue. The remote issue is, who started this whole thing? That person should be questioned. That institution should be questioned. That process should be questioned.”
Responding to questions over whether the Head of Service should resign, Epelle argued that responsibility should be applied consistently across government if that standard were to be adopted. “Everybody responsible and everybody that is found culpable should be questioned. And if that person is found guilty, the person should pay the price.”
“If we’re calling for resignation of this woman, we should call for resignation of the President. He’s solely responsible for what happens in government. He’s the head of government. We should call for resignation of the Chief of Staff. We should call for resignation of the IG of Police. We should call for resignation of the Accountant General. And it will continue until it gets to everybody that says what they did not do, ignorantly.”
He distinguished between officials who admit mistakes and those who conceal wrongdoing, arguing that transparency should be encouraged while investigations uncover the facts. “I prefer the person who comes out to say I was wrong, than the person who is trying to hide that individual wrongness, trying to use whatever office and authorities around him to cover his own trap.”
He also urged authorities to use the controversy to identify the institutional weaknesses that allegedly enabled forged documents to gain official recognition. “We must address the institutional gap. What is it within the institution that did not allow them to find out this, if it is true? Because it’s alleged, allegedly, that these things are forged documents.”
Defending his position, Epelle said he was not shielding anyone from scrutiny and insisted that personal relationships would not influence his stance if wrongdoing were established. “I’m not sparing anybody. My own son, I will bring out my own son to be punished if he goes wrong. And, of course, if he’s found guilty.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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