Fake agency scandal: Tinubu orders ICPC to probe allegation within 30days

The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has ordered the ‘Director General’ of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi to take down all materials, including transcripts, videos and recordings, from all platforms linking him to murder, bribery and other criminal conduct.

The demand was made known in a letter obtained dated July 6, 2026, and signed by ‘Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) for Pinheiro LP, lawyers of the Chief of Staff.

The letter followed a June 25 press conference at which Adeyemi, who is facing criminal charges over his alleged role in operating the PFIPC, which the Presidency describes as a fictitious agency, accused Gbajabiamila of demanding a share of the council’s alleged take-off grant, receiving money through proxies, abusing his office and participating in a criminal cover-up.

Adeyemi also described Gbajabiamila as “a murderer” and “an assassin” during the briefing.

The letter was directed at Adeyemi, who has been listed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026, FRN v. Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew & Ors, on allegations of forgery, including forging an appointment letter bearing Gbajabiamila’s purported signature and counterfeiting Presidential Letter-Headed Papers to pass himself off as a government official fraudulently.

The letter listed nine allegations from the press conference in which Adeyemi, who had claimed to be the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, a body the Presidency has described as fictitious, accused Gbajabiamila of demanding 48 per cent of the council’s alleged ₦27.4 billion take-off grant, equivalent to roughly ₦12.5 billion, and of receiving ₦400 million through proxies in connection with appointments linked to the entity.

However, the lawyers described all nine allegations as not only false but gravely defamatory, stressing they were designed to portray Gbajabiamila as corrupt, dishonest, criminally culpable, morally bankrupt, administratively incompetent, a murderer and unfit to occupy public office.

According to the lawyers, the publication had generated widespread public attention, with friends, political associates and other members of the public contacting Gbajabiamila over the allegations and allegedly questioning his integrity.

The lawyers argued that Gbajabiamila had never had any contact whatsoever with Adeyemi and threatened a ₦10 billion defamation suit against him over the allegations.

The suit will further seek a perpetual injunction restraining any further defamatory publications against the Chief of Staff and a mandatory order compelling the publication of a retraction and apology.

Gbajabiamila further demanded that Adeyemi publish a full retraction and apology in at least five national newspapers and across all social media platforms through which the press conference was disseminated, and provide a written undertaking to refrain from further publications against him.

The lawyers added, “You have never at any time met, interacted with, communicated with, or had any form of personal or official dealing whatsoever with him. The decision to fabricate and publish allegations against a person with whom you have had absolutely no relationship or interaction underscores the reckless, baseless and malicious nature of your publication.

“It is even more disturbing to our client that you resorted to defaming him through your press statements after a criminal Charge had been filed against you,” it stated, noting that the June 25 press conference allegations directly touch on the counts already before the court.

“Trial by media remains unknown to Nigerian law and cannot be a substitute for due process.”

The lawyers gave a 72-hour compliance window from the time the letter was received.

Adeyemi was also asked to stop making further defamatory statements, take down all materials, including transcripts, videos and recordings from all platforms, publish a full retraction and apology in at least five national newspapers and across all social media platforms through which the press conference was disseminated, and provide a written undertaking to refrain from further publications about Gbajabiamila.

In his reaction, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the Nigeria Police Force over the arrest of the father of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man linked to the disputed Presidential Fiscal and Infrastructure Projects Council, PFIPC.

In a statement issued on Monday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku described the arrest carried out in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, as an abuse of power and a violation of the rule of law.

The police operatives had raided the family residence while searching for Adeyemi over allegations relating to the PFIPC controversy.

Ibe said Nigerian law does not permit arresting relatives in place of a suspect.

“What has the father of the man the Presidency claims to be a phantom Director-General got to do with the matter? It is an overreach and an abuse of power,” Ibe said.

He argued that if the police have evidence against Adeyemi, they should pursue him through lawful channels rather than target innocent family members.

“Security agencies cannot arrest a suspect’s family member simply because the person they are looking for is not available,” the statement added.

Atiku’s camp warned that such actions could erode public confidence in law enforcement and weaken democratic principles.

It demanded the immediate release of Adeyemi’s father and urged security agencies to operate within constitutional limits.

Senior lawyer and human rights advocate, Femi Falana, SAN, also condemned the arrest. He said substituted arrest is unknown to Nigerian law and insisted investigations must focus on the accused, not relatives or associates.

Falana similarly called on the police to release the elderly man and ensure the probe follows due process.

The PFIPC issue gained public attention after Adeyemi allegedly presented himself as the Director-General of the council and attended public events with prominent political figures.

The Presidency has since distanced itself from the organisation, stating that no agency known as the Presidential Fiscal and Infrastructure Projects Council exists within the Federal Government.

The Federal Government also denied recognising the council. Security agencies have since opened investigations into allegations of forgery, impersonation and other related offences linked to the purported body.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has denied claims that public funds were released to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), saying the body has no operational CBN account, no budgetary allocation and no staff on government payroll.

Director of Press and Public Relations, OAGF, Mr. Bawa Mokwa, gave the clarification on Thursday amid reports alleging that the controversial council had received government money and paid salaries.

Mokwa said the PFIPC had neither received budgetary allocation nor any financial disbursement from the federal government.

He explained that while an application was initiated to open a CBN account for the council, the process was abandoned after the required documentation was not submitted.

“The account, till today, has not seen the light of day. It has not seen one kobo because the account is not completely operational,” Mokwa said.

“That portrays that he has not collected a dime. The Accountant-General has not released a dime because they don’t even have a place where the money can be paid.”

According to him, no account can be opened with the apex bank without the approval of the Accountant-General.

The OAGF spokesman said the convener of the council, Adeniyi Adeyemi, approached the office with an appointment letter linked to an already existing agency rather than the PFIPC.

He added that the account-opening process stalled because the names of officials designated as account signatories were never provided, leaving the government with no channel to transfer funds to the council.

Mokwa further stated that the PFIPC was not captured in any federal budget for funding. He said financing for the council is only expected under the 2026 budget and has not reached implementation stage.

The OAGF also dismissed reports that salaries had been paid to workers of the council, insisting that no staff had been recruited through statutory procedures.

“Based on our knowledge, he has not employed anybody,” he said.

Mokwa explained that before any federal agency can recruit and place personnel on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, it must secure approvals from the Federal Character Commission, the Budget Office and the Federal Civil Service Commission.

“Once they are captured, payment will come from the budget,” he said. “He cannot capture even one name without those approvals… none of the required processes had been completed by the council.”

The OAGF maintained that in the absence of an operational CBN account, budgetary allocation and statutory recruitment approvals, claims that the PFIPC had received public funds or paid salaries were unfounded.