Controversial Presidential Council: How Tanimola Died in Mysterious Fire

By The Insight Team.

Kachi Hotel (also known as Kachi Hotel & Suites) in Utako District, Abuja is located at Plot 1061 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. It has another annex at Plot 1125 Okotie Eboh Street, Utako, Abuja.

The hotel enjoys a serene and welcoming atmosphere that reflects the balance between urban convenience and tranquil comfort. It sits in a relatively quiet part of the city, away from the heavy bustle of central business zones, yet close enough to major roads and transport hubs, making it easily accessible for both local and international guests.

The ambiance around the hotel is calm, with tree-lined streets and well-maintained surroundings that contribute to a sense of relaxation.

Kachi Hotel & Suites. Credit: Hotel’s website.

The neighborhood is characterized by a mix of residential and commercial establishments, including restaurants, shops, and offices, which provide guests with a variety of amenities within walking distance.

The hotel’s immediate environment is peaceful, with minimal noise pollution, allowing visitors to enjoy a restful stay. At night, the area is moderately lit, offering both safety and a cozy atmosphere.

The air of serenity is complemented by the hotel’s landscaped exterior and the general cleanliness of the district. Utako itself is known for its organized layout and proximity to transport facilities such as bus terminals, making Kachi Hotel a convenient choice for travelers.

The hotel, as a commercial entity, is a modest guest house designed to serve travelers seeking practical lodging in the city. The building itself is a low-rise, two-storey structure. Its front entrance is defined by a simple gated compound wall, opening into a compact parking area directly facing the main entrance. Unlike luxury hotels with expansive glass facades or landscaped gardens, Kachi Hotel’s exterior is straightforward and utilitarian, prioritizing function over flair.

The strange fire started inexplicably and engulfed the reception hall, then the adjoining hotel rooms.

It was at this hotel that Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola’s untimely exit from this earth began, no thanks to a mystery fire incident. It occurred in the early hours, at about 5.00am, of Wednesday, October 8, 2025. According to a hotel staff, the strange fire started inexplicably and engulfed the reception hall, then the adjoining hotel rooms, and later its smokes overwhelmed the two-storey building.

As the blazing fire threatened to engulf his room, Tanimola was said to have jumped blindly and fumbled through the thick smoke. He entered into the raw fire the charged towards his room. It was a dangerous walk through the menacing valley of hell.

Image from the scene of the fire incident at Kachi Hotel & Suites. Credit: FFS

Tanimola emerged alive, but not with his youthful skin. The fire had roasted him very badly, leaving him with high degree of severe burns. However, the 42-year-old man, an only son of a medical doctor father, held unwaveringly to hope. He would not allow his spirit to droop, still mentally alert.

With little help from the staff of Kachi Hotel and spectators at the inferno that had begun to tear down and swallow up sections of the hotel, Tanimola hurried out to the adjoining street, his life literally in his hands, and wave down a commercial vehicle that conveyed him, at an alarming speed, to the Trauma Centre of the National Hospital, Abuja.

The cause of the fire was unknown. There was no official report on how the fire actually started. But an initial speculation was that it was caused by an explosion from a gas cylinder. The container was later discovered to have been empty and out of use for several weeks before the fire outbreak at the hotel.

The main digital record about the disaster was found on the Twitter handle of the Federal Fire Service, where the institution shared a report. Though it narrated the exploits and achievements of its men on its Twitter handle, the Fire Service failed to provide important details.

Tanimola actually gave up the ghost at the National Hospital, Abuja.

The report says an inferno at Utako began with a sudden blaze that swallowed a two storey commercial building. It does not explain the source of the ‘sudden blaze;’ it would not name the hotel.

The FFS explains further that “Upon arrival, firefighters met the building already engulfed in flames and immediately commenced firefighting operations to bring the situation under control. Six male casualties, aged between 25 and 57, sustained varying degrees of burns and injuries and were later evacuated to hospitals for medical attention.”

An account that provides a link between the incident in FFS report and the inferno in Kachi Hotel was the section of the document that revealed that in panic, a desperate parent threw a baby from a balcony of Kachi Hotel, but bystanders below caught the child just in time, averting tragedy.

This story was popularly told as one of the miracles that occurred during the inferno. Commenting on it, the Service warned against such perilous acts, reminding the public that panic could cost lives.

The Fire Service said further that by the time the blaze was contained, property worth ₦45 million lay in ruins, “yet quick intervention had saved assets valued at ₦705 million.” The public document failed to provide the cause of the fire.

Tanimola, who escaped from that fire, in his death, has emerged as an actor in the controversy over the establishment of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).

Image of FFS staff quenching the inferno at the scene of the fire incident at Kachi Hotel & Suites. Credit: FFS

The two elephants at war are the Chief of Staff to Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila and Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the so-called Director-General of the presidential council.Tanimola’s name has emerged as a constant refrain, for allegedly ‘procuring’ the directorship of what is termed ‘phantom’ agency for Prince Adeyemi.

However, there is a fundamental question, as to whether the fire incident at Kachi Hotel on October 8, 2025, was a crime committed to silence a principal character in the controversy ahead of the big fight between Prince Adeyemi and the Chief of Staff to the President.

The Insight gathered that after scaling through and surviving the hellish fire, Tanimola successfully entered and was admitted into the National Hospital’s Trauma Center in the morning of October 8. Doctors immediately began to attend to him at life-saving speed. Over the next two weeks, Tanimola was an in-patient at the Trauma Centre in Abuja.

As at October 15, 2025 when Prince Adeyemi was said to have been arrested on the orders of The Presidency for alleged forgery, Tanimola was receiving and positively responding to treatment at the National Hospital, Abuja. From the information in the open, the face-off between the Chief of Staff to the President and Prince Adeyemi had raged on while the main witness was at the National Hospital.

PRESS RELEASE

SIX INJURED AT UTAKO INFERNO AS FIREFIGHTERS CONTAIN BLAZE

The Federal Fire Service (FFS) promptly responded to a fire outbreak today at a two-storey commercial building in Utako, FCT–Abuja, following an emergency report by a concerned resident.

Upon arrival,… pic.twitter.com/lmXP17r5Re

— Federal Fire Service (@Fedfireng) October 8, 2025

While at there, many prominent Nigerians visited Tanimola, providing financial support, and encouraging nurses and doctors to provide the utmost care for him. It was apparent that Tanimola was not just another patient, but an important personality, popular among the high and mighty in the contemporary Nigerian society.

Two weeks into the treatment, it seemed the worst was over for Tanimola. The seed of hope in Tanimola had begun to germinate and even began flowering, as a result of the intense care from doctors and nurses. Without support for any person, he could descend from the hospital bed, enter into the convenience, and take care of himself.

Tanimola had begun to demonstrate evidence of recovery, sharing jokes with visitors, and looking forward to a return to his normal life.

But that would not happen. On the night of October 22, 2025, Tanimola’s illness took an explicable turn for the worse. Those who shared long jokes with him the previous evening could not reconcile the convivial atmosphere they shared with him in the evening of October 21, 2025, and the emergency call from nurses in the early hours of October 22.

Then, the sad news. Tanimola had succumb to death at the National Hospital, Abuja, about two weeks after the fire incident.

Contrary to The Presidency’s claim that he died in the fire incident at Kachi Hotel, Utako, Tanimola actually gave up the ghost at the National Hospital, Abuja.

Combo photo of The Acclaim PFIPC DG, Matthew Adeniyi, and the CoS, Femi Gbajabiamila. Credit: X

The police would not investigate the forgery and phantom agency, until after his death. In the detailed statement from the Presidency on July 1, 2026, it said the Foreign Affairs Ministry raised concerns on October 15, 2025, but Adeyemi was only arrested on October 27. The delay between official alarm and enforcement action is not explained, despite the claim that the matter was treated urgently.

Also, The Presidency said Adeyemi alleged that Tanimola helped him procure the fake appointment letter, but it is not clear if they extracted any evidence of Tanimola’s involvement, beyond Adeyemi’s claim. For discerning minds, the call by Prince Adeyemi, at his press conference on June 25, 2026, for an independent investigation into the death of Tanimola, should not be ignored.

A short documentary on Tanimola, released during the wake keep before his burial on November 7, 2025, showed the 42-year-old at various events and posed for photographs with many prominent Nigerians, like former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd); billionaire businessmen Tony Elumelu and Abdulsamad Rabiu; three former Inspectors-General of Police—Mike Okiro, Solomon Arase and Kayode Egbetokun— Philanthropist Arthur Eze; Deputy Governor of Lagos and All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Candidate, Engr Obafemi Hamzat, Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, etc.

The call by Prince Adeyemi, at his press conference on June 25, 2026, for an independent investigation into the death of Tanimola, should not be ignored.

Tanimola was, therefore, not a shadowy personality. The documentary describes him as a bridge maker, connector of people, a man of ideas, from the boardroom to the community. The impression, therefore, was that the young man was a power broker, a fixer, or a lobbyist. Those who play such roles in government are not criminals.

They play the role of intermediaries who connects individuals, organizations, or interest groups with government officials and decision-makers. Their primary function is to influence policy, facilitate access, or secure opportunities by leveraging personal networks and insider knowledge.

In many democratic societies, lobbying is recognized as a legitimate practice, regulated by laws that require transparency, disclosure of financial interests, and registration of lobbyists to prevent corruption.

Fixers and power brokers, however, often operate more informally, using personal influence rather than institutional frameworks, which can raise ethical concerns. While their legitimacy varies across countries, the underlying principle is that they bridge the gap between citizens or businesses and the state, ensuring that voices are heard in policymaking.

The impression, therefore, was that the young man was a power broker, a fixer, or a lobbyist.

Instead of those probing the scandal over the establishment of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) to portray Tanimola as part of the fraud being investigated, they should rather investigate the mystery fire that killed the young man.

He was an only son of a medical doctor father. His parents and siblings are in pains. The government must institute a probe into the fire incident at Kachi Hotel, Utako, which led to the death of one of the main figures in the scandal that has rocked the Tinubu government.

In developed societies, when a suspected fire incident occurs in a hotel and investigators believe arson and murder may have been the intention, rather than a natural outbreak, security agencies follow a rigorous and multi-layered investigative process. First, the scene is secured to protect survivors, prevent further damage, and preserve potential evidence.

Firefighters and emergency responders extinguish the blaze, while forensic fire investigators begin examining burn patterns, accelerant residues, and points of origin to determine whether the fire was deliberately set.

The Federal Government must probe the fire incident at Kachi Hotel, Utako on October 8, 2025, which led to Tanimola’s death.

Specialized equipment such as chemical sniffers, thermal imaging cameras, and laboratory analysis of debris are used to detect accelerants like gasoline or alcohol.

Simultaneously, homicide detectives collaborate with arson experts to assess whether victims were targeted, examining bodies for signs of trauma beyond fire-related injuries. Witnesses, hotel staff, and guests are interviewed to establish timelines and suspicious behaviour. Surveillance footage, electronic records, and access logs are scrutinized to identify suspects.

The Federal Government must probe the fire incident at Kachi Hotel, Utako on October 8, 2025, which led to Tanimola’s death. Nothing should be swept under the carpet to protect any suspect.

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