Presidency alleges internal collaborators enabled Adeniyi to run fictitious PFIPC, ahead of court date

PFIPC scandal: Gbaja/Adeyemi saga escalates as Presidency fingers internal collaborators

…asks DSS, Police, EFCC to uncover them By Omeiza Ajayi, Johnbosco Agbakwuru and Hadiza Yusuf The controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, intensified on Saturday as the Presidency alleged that internal collaborators within government institutions enabled Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi to operate the fictitious agency, even as the Kwankwasiyya Movement demanded a full […] The post PFIPC scandal: Gbaja/Adeyemi saga escalates as Presidency fingers internal collaborators appeared first on Vanguard News.

1 hour ago

How SGF Requested Office Dpace For ‘Fake Agency’

Fresh documents have raised questions about the Presidency’s claim that the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) never existed. Records obtained by Saturday PUNCH show that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) received and processed correspondence from the council months before publicly disowning it.The papers reveal that the SGF’s office formally forwarded a request from PFIPC’s self-styled Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, seeking office space from recovered government properties through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The letter, dated November 21, 2024, was signed by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri, on behalf of the SGF.Adeyemi, now facing prosecution, is accused of forging presidential documents, impersonating officials, and operating a fictitious agency with 34 bank accounts. Investigators allege he even held meetings with diplomats under the PFIPC banner.Despite the Presidency’s insistence that PFIPC was fake, the documents suggest government institutions engaged with the council. Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has demanded an independent probe, questioning how the agency allegedly secured budget allocations and opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.Opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), have called for the removal of Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, citing institutional decay and possible complicity. Civil society groups have also urged President Bola Tinubu to order a transparent investigation, warning of protests if no action is taken.The Presidency, however, maintains Adeyemi was a “con artist” exploiting systemic weaknesses, while promising that internal collaborators who enabled the scheme will be prosecuted.

16 hours ago

PFIPC Scandal is Pure Scam, Forgery — President Tinubu's Aide

The Presidency has described the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) as a “pure scam,” insisting that forged documents were used to create the illusion of a government agency.Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, revealed during an interview on Arise Television that a fake appointment letter exposed the fraud. He explained that the forged letter carried a telephone number on the State House letterhead, a detail absent from genuine presidential documents.“On the genuine State House letterhead, there is no contact telephone number. On the purported appointment letter, however, there is one. Anybody who understands how the system works will know this is a pure scam,” Ajayi said.He stressed that presidential appointments do not originate from the Chief of Staff’s office, but from the President, with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) issuing official letters. “It is procedurally wrong for anyone to brandish a letter of appointment from the Chief of Staff’s office. That is the first red flag,” he added.Ajayi did not rule out the possibility of internal collaborators, noting that Adeyemi’s ability to operate inside the Federal Secretariat suggested lapses within government institutions.Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, accused of masterminding the scheme, is facing an eight-count charge of conspiracy, forgery, and impersonation. Investigators allege he ran 34 fictitious bank accounts, hosted foreign ambassadors, and secured unauthorized office space using forged documents. He was arrested in October 2025 after petitions to the DSS and police.Adeyemi has denied wrongdoing, claiming his appointment was genuine and accusing Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila of demanding a share of the council’s take-off grant allegations Gbajabiamila strongly denies.Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has faulted the Presidency for attempting to clear officials without constitutional authority, calling for an independent probe by the ICPC and demanding explanations for the reported ₦24 billion budgeted for the non-existent agency.The case is scheduled to continue on July 27, 2026, with investigators still probing how Adeyemi allegedly forged documents and infiltrated government structures.

19 hours ago

Adeyemi Exploiting Corruption Narrative to Drag Gbajabiamila – Presidential aide

The Presidency has vowed to identify and prosecute government insiders who allegedly enabled Prince Adeniyi Mathew to operate a fictitious presidential agency for months without detection.Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described Adeniyi as an “irredeemable con artist” exploiting Nigeria’s public sensitivity to corruption to shield himself from accountability. Ajayi said investigators from the Department of State Services (DSS), the Police, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been tasked with dismantling what he called a “criminal network” embedded within federal institutions.According to Ajayi, Adeniyi forged presidential appointment letters, maintained 34 bank accounts in the names of fake agencies, hosted foreign ambassadors, and even opened a Central Bank account while parading himself as Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).Ajayi stressed that internal collaborators were key to Adeniyi’s success, noting: “The criminal network within the affected institutions must be dismantled, and everyone found to have played a role should be arrested and prosecuted.”He further accused Adeniyi of dragging the name of the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, into the scandal as a diversionary tactic. “In Nigeria, the easiest allegation to throw at a public officer is corruption. Adeniyi understands this psychology and is exploiting it expertly,” Ajayi said.The aide acknowledged systemic vulnerabilities but argued that the same institutions eventually detected the fraud. Officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly flagged anomalies when Adeniyi’s council began hosting diplomatic meetings without coordination.This marks the third official response from the Presidency since the scandal broke. Earlier, Gbajabiamila issued a disclaimer disowning the PFIPC, while Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga revealed that Adeniyi had been charged with eight criminal counts, including maintaining fictitious accounts and deceiving the Accountant-General’s office.Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has demanded an independent probe by the ICPC, questioning how ₦24bn was allegedly budgeted for the non-existent agency and how it managed to open a CBN account.Adeniyi is scheduled to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 27, 2026, alongside two accomplices who remain at large.

1 day ago