When Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew walked into Phase III of the Federal Secretariat in Abuja with a forged letter and walked out with an office, signage, and government cover, he did not act alone.
That is the core of the “Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council” PFIPC) scandal. Adeyemi is facing eight counts of fraud and forgery. But the bigger problem is how a non-existent agency nearly got N1.3 billion in the 2026 budget, operated for over a year in the heart of government, hosted officials from Nigeria and abroad, and allegedly ran multiple bank accounts.
This is not just about Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila versus Adeyemi. It is about systemic failure. And until that system is fixed, another “Adeyemi” is likely already forging another letterhead.
Three Critical Breakdowns
- Budget Failure
The 2026 Appropriation Act contained N1.3 billion for “Presidential Economic Advisory Council/PFIPC.”The catch: PFIPC has no legal backing and was never established by the Federal Government.
Sources in the National Assembly allege the allocation entered “through a backdoor” without budget defence. Adeyemi himself, in an interview from hiding, said he was detained for 23 days while the budget was prepared and “nobody went to defend it on my behalf.”
That means no committee asked basic questions: What agency is this? What is its mandate? Who are its staff
For 27 years, Nigeria’s budget has been criticised for “insertions.” PFIPC is now the clearest example. A ghost agency should not get real money. If the Budget Office, House, and Senate all missed it, our fiscal defence needs urgent review.
- Appointment and Office Verification Failure
Adeyemi allegedly used a forged appointment letter with Gbajabiamila’s purported signature and fake presidential letterhead to pose as DG. Gbajabiamila’s lawyers say he has “never had any contact whatsoever with Adeyemi.”Yet the letter was “accepted at civil service headquarters without adequate verification.” It secured him an office in the Federal Secretariat for over a year. As of this month, a PFIPC sign was still up in the Ministry of Health wing.
If the civil service cannot detect a fake appointment, no MDA is safe. Tomorrow, it could be a fake NCC or NDDC director.
- Banking and Due Diligence Failure
Adeyemi allegedly opened a CBN account for a non-existent agency. He also asked in a viral video: “How can a non-existent agency have a domiciliary account, a pound sterling account, and TSA all at CBN?”He allegedly operated 34 bank accounts linked to fictitious agencies. Banks and government platforms are required to do KYC. Who approved the TSA linkage?
The EFCC has made arrests and recoveries, but the institutions that enabled the financial plumbing have not been named.
What about the Chief of Staff?
Adeyemi alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded 48% of a N27.4 billion take-off grant and collected N400 million through proxies.
Gbajabiamila denies ever meeting Adeyemi and calls the claims “false and gravely defamatory,” with a N10 billion suit filed. Adeyemi also admitted in the VeryDarkMan (VDM) interview that he never met Gbajabiamila.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga noted that appointments are the prerogative of the SGF, not the CoS. It was the CoS office that first flagged PFIPC after NIPC raised concerns, and Gbajabiamila ordered a disclaimer that led to Adeyemi’s arrest.
Reforms Needed Now
President Tinubu has directed the ICPC to investigate and report within 30 days. KPMG may also be brought in. The House has launched its own probe while the Senate has stepped back to support the presidential action.
Arresting Adeyemi is necessary but not sufficient. Four immediate reforms are proposed:
- Budget Integrity Law: No allocation without committee scrutiny, published MDA sponsor, legal instrument, and staff list. A “ghost agency” clause should trigger an automatic audit.
- Appointment Verification Portal: All federal appointments are logged on a public SGF portal. MDAs must verify with a code before accepting letters.
- Federal Secretariat Audit: Forensic check of all offices, signage, and allocations. Revoke spaces given in the last 3 years without SGF/HoS approval.
Financial Accountability: CBN and banks must explain how accounts were opened for PFIPC and 34 other “agencies.” BVN and CAC must be cross-checked before activating government-linked accounts.
Bottom Line
Adeyemi allegedly gamed the system. But systems are gamed because they are weak. The PFIPC scandal failed the stress test at three points: budget, appointment, and banking.
Until those are fixed, the next scandal is only a forged letter away.
By Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media & Special Duties.
