The Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday called for a forensic investigation into the unfolding controversy involving the Presidency and the Director-General of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC), Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi.
The party, which recommended that the probe be conducted by a reputable international firm, also asked President Bola Tinubu to suspend key officials linked to the development and reorganise the State House in order to save the country’s image from the “embarrassing situation”.
The INWC noted that the explanation offered by the Presidency so far portrayed “a failure” of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration and amounted to an admission that Nigeria had been “defrauded” and was in the hands of “corrupt” officials.
Adeyemi is embroiled in a controversy with the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, in which the DG alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded a N400 million bribe from him.
He also claimed that Gbajabiamila requested 48 per cent of PEAC/PFIPC’s take-off grant of N27.4 billion, allegations that have since been dismissed by the Presidency.
Incidentally, there is also a provision of N1.3 billion in the 2026 budget covering the agency’s planned capital and recurrent expenditure.
However, the Presidency denied the existence of the agency and subsequently filed criminal charges against the controversial DG, who has been seen in photographs appearing to function on behalf of the government.
In a statement issued by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga on Thursday last week, the Presidency cited several instances in which the DG allegedly impersonated the government and claimed to act on its behalf.
Onanuga summed him up thus: “The case of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew is a clear case of a con artist who appears to have built a web of false claims to deceive unsuspecting government officials and the public into playing by his scam book. He has a history of fraudulent misrepresentation.”
However, on Sunday, the INWC, chaired by Dr Tanimu Turaki, faulted the steps taken by the Presidency in addressing the issue, insisting that only an independent forensic investigation would reveal the full extent of the matter.
“Prince Matthew alleged that the Chief of Staff solicited and received financial inducements from him in exchange for facilitating his appointment into the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and also made further demands in the course of running the office.
“In response, the Presidency, through Bayo Onanuga, did not directly deny the allegation; instead, it parried it, rather describing Prince Matthew as an impostor and a fraudster who forged his way into the highest levels of government, securing office space in a government facility, having staff posted to him, receiving budgetary allocations, operating CBN-registered accounts, and conducting official business with institutions including the EFCC and various security agencies, all without any authority.
“How else can one explain the serial embarrassments emanating from the Presidential Villa under this administration? From the appointment of deceased persons into government offices, to the inclusion of undeserving individuals on the presidential pardon list, the N800 billion Progressive Governors Forum scandal, and numerous other avoidable blunders, this administration has demonstrated a troubling pattern of institutional failure,” the National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, stated on Sunday.
The party argued that there could be two possible outcomes from the unfolding controversy, neither of which, it said, could be applauded.
It noted: “The two possible outcomes of this scandal are very damning. If the Presidency’s account is correct, that Prince Matthew is an impostor, then it means the Federal Government is so porous and vulnerable—an admission that the country has been brazenly defrauded because institutional gatekeepers entrusted with protecting our collective patrimony are either grossly incompetent or thoroughly distracted from the responsibilities of governance.
“If, on the other hand, Prince Matthew’s account is accurate, that the Chief of Staff solicited and actually received bribes to facilitate his appointment, then this is yet another act of shameless corruption added to a long and growing queue of unchallenged corrupt officials in this administration. Whichever way this pendulum swings, the Nigerian people lose.”
The party further observed that even if Nigerians were to accept the government’s version of events, it would still confirm a breakdown in the governance system that allowed an individual to successfully establish an agency that operated as far as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) without detection.
“Any responsible government confronted with this scale of institutional breakdown would immediately commission an independent forensic investigation, suspend the key officials implicated, implement systemic reforms to prevent a recurrence, issue an unreserved public apology, and consider the resignation of those found culpable.
“Instead, the APC-led Federal Government appears to be pursuing a covert internal review, dismissing legitimate public concerns by talking down to citizens and hoping that the passage of time will erase the anomaly from public memory,” the PDP’s INWC added.
The party called on Tinubu to intervene by approving a forensic investigation and taking other necessary actions, including the suspension of key officials.
It stated: “We, therefore, call on the President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to immediately order a forensic investigation of this scandal by a reputable firm of international standing, announce the suspension of all key officials connected to the matter, order a comprehensive reorganisation of the Presidency, and issue an unreserved apology to Nigerians for this deeply embarrassing situation.
“As we have consistently maintained, this administration is consumed by political calculations and has abandoned the business of governance. This neglect has produced this and many other acts of mismanagement. The Presidency owes Nigerians more than explanations; it owes us accountability.
“Until this administration demonstrates the courage to hold itself accountable, every new scandal will further deepen the trust deficit and strengthen Nigerians’ resolve to demand a government that is competent, transparent and worthy of their confidence in 2027.”