The presidency has defended the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, following allegations of an appointment-for-cash scandal by Adeyemi Matthew, the purported Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council/Presidential Economic Advisory Council, saying the accuser is unknown to the government.
Matthew alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded ₦27.4 billion from the take-off grant of the purported agency and received ₦400 million, through proxies, to secure his appointment as Director-General, with an outstanding balance of ₦200 million.
He claimed the dispute over the outstanding balance led to tensions and further alleged that there had been attempts on his life.
Matthew had called for an independent investigative panel comprising civil society groups and international organisations, urged Gbajabiamila to step aside, and demanded that the panel’s findings be made public.
Reacting to the allegations in a statement issued on Wednesday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described Matthew as the Director-General of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council cum Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
According to Onanuga, 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 Commission (NIPC) that another government agency appeared to be functioning at cross-purposes with it.
He noted that, in a letter dated October 17, 2025, Gbajabiamila asked the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to investigate the activities of “fraudsters and impostors” allegedly forging appointment letters purportedly issued from his office.
The letter reads: “The attention of this office 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 disclosed that the letter to the security agencies was accompanied by a copy of the forged appointment letter, a copy of the request for a note verbale to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and photographs of engagements obtained from the illegal agency’s website.
He stated that, 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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also revealed that, in a letter dated October 15, 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, requesting clarification on the status of Adeyemi’s agency.
Onanuga said that the letter, signed by Ambassador Anderson Madubuike, followed Adeyemi’s October 10 meeting with ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments in Asokoro without recourse to the ministry.
“This act contravenes extant rules and regulations guiding diplomatic practices globally,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in its letter.
Similarly, he mentioned that on October 20, the Office of the National Security Adviser wrote to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Onanuga added that on October 29, the OSGF wrote to the Chief of Staff requesting clarification, stating: “This has become expedient owing to several requests from governmental and non-governmental bodies seeking to ascertain the status of the appointment under consideration.”
According to him, the Chief of Staff had, on October 27, sent his own clear rebuttal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that he had never issued an appointment letter to Adeyemi as Director-General of what he described as “the fake Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.”
He argued that Gbajabiamila could not have issued a letter of appointment to a non-existent agency, adding: “Moreover, the Chief of Staff does not make appointments or write letters, as these are the exclusive preserve of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.”
The presidential aide stressed that on November 5, 2025, the Chief of Staff responded to the OSGF, again flatly denying any knowledge of 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 into the person and the entity he claims to represent,” the Chief of Staff purportedly wrote.
Onanuga revealed that the police were the first to respond to Gbajabiamila’s letter dated October 17 and began their investigation.
“On October 27, 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. Following his claim, the police went after the said Tanimola. The police found that Tanimola died in a fire incident at Kachi Hotel in Abuja on October 22, five days before Adeyemi’s arrest. Tanimola’s body was seen by the police at the morgue, confirming the death.”
He claimed that the police were able to establish that the agency Adeyemi purportedly headed was fictitious, that he forged his appointment letter and the documents recovered from his office and home, that he falsely paraded himself as a government appointee, and that he falsely solicited a note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enable him and his staff to obtain US visas.
Onanuga equally pointed out that the police found that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, with nine opened in the names of his fictitious agencies, namely the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Public Private Partnership (FIPA-APP), and the FCT Investment Promotion Act.
“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,” Onanuga said, adding that, according to the police, no government money had 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 into disrepute before the public and the international community,” the police purportedly wrote in the investigation report prepared by Assistant Commissioner Kabir Mogaji.
Onanuga further disclosed that, 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.
While pointing out that Adeyemi is due in court on July 27, the presidential aide noted that the accuser was on police bail when he recently claimed that the Chief of Staff had appointed him as Director-General of the fictitious agency.
Onanuga argued that Adeyemi’s claim contradicted the statement he gave 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.”
He emphasised that the case of Adeyemi was a clear example of a con artist who appeared to have built a web of false claims to deceive unsuspecting government officials and members of the public into playing by his scam book.
He alleged that the accuser 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 urged politicians and members of the public who are weaponising Adeyemi’s claim against the Chief of Staff to refrain from swallowing what he described as his narrative hook, line and sinker.
He advised them to await the trial of Adeyemi and his accomplices, as well as the court’s judgment, adding that comments made today are sub judice.
