The Presidency was silent on the allocation of N1.3billion in the 2026 Budget to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council in its reaction on Wednesday to the bribery allegation against the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabianila
Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who claimed to be the Director General of the Council had alleged that Chief Staff of Staff to the President. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila demanded a N600million bribe to enable him to facilitate his appointment
Reacting to the allegation, Special Adviser to the President, Bayo Onanuga dismissed the allegations but failed to say anything on the N1.3 billion budgetary allocation to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council in the 2026 Budget.
In the lengthy post on X(formerly Twitter) Onanuga gave details of the Chief of Staff’s account and how the security agencies have moved to stop Adeniyi.
Onanuga’s post read: “We are aware of the public interest in the matter of a man called Adeyemi Adeniyi Matthew, who has been parading himself as the director-general of a fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council cum Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
“The office of the Chief of Staff to the President first blew the whistle on the existence of the illegal agency, following complaints from officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council that another government agency appeared to be functioning at cross-purposes with it.”
Onanuga said the Chief of Staff, on October 17, 2025, in a letter, asked the DSS and the Police to probe the activities of ‘fraudsters and imposters’ forging appointment letters purportedly from his office.
He quoted the petition to security of agencies by the Office of the Chief of Staff as saying its “attention has been drawn to the activities of certain individuals and groups engaged in the forgery of official appointment letters purportedly issued from my office.
“The fake documents, bearing falsified signatures, reference/folio numbers, and seals, have been used to claim leadership appointments to non-existent entities, with particular reference to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
“The aforementioned entity under the leadership of one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew as Director-General is said to have an office at the Federal Secretariat Complex Phase 111, 2nd Floor.
“Also, they have been parading themselves as a legitimate government agency, hosting meetings with both foreigners and Nigerian citizens, and even going so far as to request a note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the United States of America to facilitate visas for some of their staff.
“The above development not only constitutes a serious criminal act but also undermines the integrity of the presidency and the credibility of official government communication.
“I therefore urge you to initiate a thorough investigation to identify and apprehend those involved and also to uncover the network facilitating the forgery.”
Onanuga said the Chief of Staff’s letter to the security agencies was accompanied by a copy of the forged appointment letter, a copy of the request for a note verbal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and pictures of engagements obtained from the illegal agency’s website.
He said around the time the Chief of Staff lodged the complaint with the security agencies, the existence of the fake agency had raised concerns within the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Onanuga said in a letter on October 15, 2025, the Foreign Affairs Ministry wrote to the office of the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff to the President, requesting clarification on the status of Adeyemi’s agency.
He said the letter, which Ambassador Anderson Madubuike signed, followed Adeyemi’s October 10 meeting with ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments in Asokoro, without recourse to the ministry.
According to Onanuga, the Ministry said in its lettter that “this act contravenes extant rules and regulations guiding diplomatic practices globally,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its letter.”
Onanuga further said that on October 20, the Office of the National Security Adviser wrote to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on the request of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
He said on 29 October, the OSGF wrote to the Chief of Staff requesting clarification, saying “this has become expedient owing to several requests from governmental and non-governmental bodies seeking to ascertain the status of the appointment under consideration”
He said two days earlier, the Chief of Staff sent his own clear rebuttal to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, stating that he had never issued an appointment letter to Adeyemi as director general of the fake presidential foreign investment promotion council.
According to Onanuga the Chief of Staff could not have issued a letter of appointment to a non-existent agency.
He said the Chief of Staff does not make appointments or write letters, as these are the exclusive preserve of the Office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation.
He also said that on November 5, 2025, the Chief of Staff responded to the OSGF, again flatly denying Adeniyi Adeyemi and his spurious agency.
“Prince Adeniyi Matthew, director-general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, is unknown to any office, nor do we have any dealings with the said council.
“My attention was drawn to a letter of this purported application, which is fake, and my office has instructed the police and other relevant security agencies to carry out investigations on the person and the entity he claims to represent”, Onanuga quoted the chief of staff as having said in his letter.
He said the Police made the first move by responding to the chief of staff’s letter dated 17 October and began their investigation and tha on 27 October, Adeyemi was arrested in Abuja at the Secretariat office where he operated his elaborate scam.
He said the police searched the office and Adeyemi’s home in Suleja, recovering vital documents and exhibits. In Adeyemi’s statement to the police, he claimed that one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola assisted him in procuring the fake appointment letter.
Onanuga said following the claim, the police went after the said Tanimola, and found that Tanimola died in a fire incident at Kachi Hotel in Abuja on 22 October, five days before Adeyemi’s arrest. Tanimola’s body was seen by the police at the morgue, confirming the death.
He said the police were able to establish that the agency Adeyemi purportedly headed was fictitious, that he forged his appointment letter and the documents recovered in his office and home, that he falsely paraded himself as a government appointee, and that he falsely solicited a note verbal from the Foreign Affairs Ministry to enable him and his staff to obtain US visas.
Continuing, he said the police also found that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, with nine opened in the names of his fictitious agencies, known as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Public Private Partnership (FIPA-APP), and the FCT Investment Promotion Act.
He said the Police found that Adeyemi, using the fake documents he created, fraudulently opened a CBN account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, discovering that no government money has been transferred into the account.
“The act of the suspect constitutes criminal forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence, thereby bringing the office of the Chief of Staff to the President and the Presidency to disrepute before the public and international community”, Onanuga quoted the police as having wrote in the report of the investigation conducted by the assistant commissioner, Kabir Mogaji.
He said based on their investigations, the police filed an eight-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against Adeyemi and two of his accomplices on November 27, 2025. He is due in court on July 27.
Onanuga revesled that Adeyemi was on police bail when he recently claimed that the Chief of Staff had appointed him as DG of the fictitious agency. This claim contradicted his statement to the police in November last year. His new claim prompted the Chief of Staff, on June 8, to issue a disclaimer consistent with earlier advisories that the man, called Adeyemi, is an impostor.
“The case of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew is a clear case of a con artist who appears to have built a web of false claims to deceive unsuspecting government officials and the public into playing by his scam book.
“He has a history of fraudulent misrepresentation. In November 2016, he paraded himself as an ambassador and President-General of the World Youth Organisation (WYO), an affiliate of the United Nations (UN).
“He claimed to have been elected in New Delhi, India. The local media celebrated him until the UN denied the existence of such a body,” Onanuga said.
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