Presidency Alleges Internal Collusion Behind Fake Presidential Council Scam

The Presidency has alleged that internal collaborators within government institutions enabled Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew to operate a fictitious presidential council, insisting that ongoing investigations are aimed at exposing everyone connected to the alleged fraud.

Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, made the assertion while reacting to the controversy surrounding the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which Adeyemi claimed to head as Director-General.

Ajayi accused Adeyemi of attempting to exploit public outrage over corruption to evade criminal responsibility by linking the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, to the matter.

According to him, allegations of corruption are often used to divert attention from the real issues, arguing that such claims easily shape public perception and distract from ongoing investigations.

“Adeniyi understands Nigerian public psychology, and he is exploiting it expertly to shield himself,” Ajayi said.

He described Adeyemi as “an irredeemable con artist” who was trying to drag Gbajabiamila’s name into what he called a criminal enterprise, adding that the Chief of Staff had become Adeyemi’s “last straw.”

The Presidency had last month distanced itself from the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council after the Chief of Staff issued a public disclaimer informing Nigerians, foreign missions, financial institutions and other organisations that the council was not an agency of the Federal Government.

The disclaimer also stated that Adeyemi was never appointed Director-General of any such body.

Earlier this week, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed that Adeyemi had been standing trial since November 27, 2025, over allegations of operating 34 bank accounts in the names of fictitious government agencies. Onanuga described him as a serial impersonator and fraudster.

Ajayi said investigators from the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had been tasked with uncovering the full extent of the alleged conspiracy that enabled Adeyemi to forge presidential appointment letters and parade himself as the head of a non-existent government council.

He acknowledged that the incident exposed weaknesses within the system but argued that the same institutions eventually detected the fraud.

According to him, while many critics have focused on the institutional lapses that allowed the scheme to thrive, they have overlooked the fact that government agencies ultimately uncovered the alleged fraud.

He noted that criminal syndicates targeting government institutions exist in many countries, with some succeeding while others are eventually exposed.

Ajayi maintained that officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs first detected irregularities surrounding the purported council and reported the matter to the appropriate authorities.

He said their actions demonstrated that the system was capable of identifying and responding to suspicious activities.

On the issue of collaborators, Ajayi insisted that investigators must identify those within the affected institutions who allegedly assisted Adeyemi.

“What is not in doubt is that internal collaborators enabled Adeniyi to get this far. That is precisely what investigators from the DSS, the Police and the EFCC must now unravel,” he said.

He added that those found to have played any role in the alleged fraud should be arrested and prosecuted, stressing that the criminal network behind the operation must be dismantled.