Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the Presidency’s explanation of the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal has revealed a government “held hostage by fraudsters” operating from within state institutions.
In a statement Thursday issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the response by Presidential Spokesman Bayo Onanuga as “not a defence of government, but a public confession of institutional collapse.”
Atiku said the Presidency’s attempt at damage control had backfired.
“A government cannot claim to be exposing fraud while struggling to explain how that same fraud reached the heart of the Nigerian state,” he said, quoting an African proverb: “The man who points at the moon should not have blood on his finger.”
He argued it was implausible that one man, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, could forge presidential documents, impersonate officials, run an office in the Federal Secretariat, open dozens of bank accounts including some with government identities, meet foreign ambassadors without clearance, and gain recognition across government, “without a single insider aiding him.”
“That explanation demands far greater faith than the scandal itself,” Atiku said.
N1.3bn budget question
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) flagged a major contradiction: the Presidency says PFIPC never existed, yet the 2026 Appropriation Act reportedly carries about N1.3 billion for the council alongside the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
“If the agency was fictitious, who prepared the budget estimates? Which ministry submitted them? Which officials defended them before the National Assembly? Who inserted the allocation? And who signed the budget into law?” he asked, citing Chinua Achebe: “A man who has been asked to carry a basket of eggs does not break them all and then blame the road.”
Atiku said the National Assembly failed in its oversight role by approving funds for a non-existent agency.
“The National Assembly stands thoroughly exposed. Billions of naira allegedly found their way into the national budget for an agency the Presidency now claims never existed, yet lawmakers neither detected the anomaly nor demanded explanations. That is not oversight; it is legislative abdication.”
He also questioned the Central Bank of Nigeria on how a “fictitious agency” allegedly completed financial processes that ordinary firms cannot.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria cannot escape scrutiny either. Nigerians deserve to know how an alleged fictitious agency reportedly navigated financial processes that ordinary businesses struggle to complete. If regulatory safeguards exist only on paper, then the integrity of our financial institutions is itself under serious question.”
He accused the EFCC of “selective zeal” for targeting opposition figures while hesitating on allegations linked to power.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has also been exposed by its selective zeal. An agency established to combat corruption appears increasingly consumed with pursuing opposition figures while exhibiting remarkable hesitation whenever allegations point towards the corridors of power. Anti-corruption loses all credibility when it becomes selective prosecution.”
“The Presidency cannot congratulate itself for exposing this scandal while pretending it bears no responsibility for the institutional failures that allowed it to flourish.
“Whether this was fraud aided by insiders or a catastrophic failure of governance, one conclusion is unavoidable: government failed,” he stated.
He said the scandal reflects broader governance failure while critical sectors like education, health, agriculture and social protection remain underfunded. He noted citizens were asked to bear subsidy removal and naira floatation pains “to rebuild the economy,” yet “those in power keep discovering new pathways for public resources to disappear.”
“This is not simply poor governance. It is governance captured by dysfunction,” Atiku said.
Call for probe
Atiku demanded an “independent investigation, no sacred cows, no political protection, no selective justice.” He said the PFIPC case has become a metaphor for the Tinubu administration: “where official explanations generate more questions than answers, accountability begins only after public outrage, and transparency is a casualty of expediency.”
“As Nigeria approaches another defining election, governments are judged not by the elegance of their excuses but by the weight of their record,” he added.
He said, “The fictitious agency saga stands as yet another compelling reason why Nigerians must reject this administration and rescue their country from a government that has become a hostage to incompetence, institutional decay, and those who profit from both.”
Presidency: Gbajabiamila never appointed ‘Fake Council’ DG
On Wednesday, the Presidency dismissed claims linking Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, to a fictitious agency, saying the man behind it, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is an impostor already facing criminal charges.
In a statement on Tuesday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Adeyemi had been “parading himself as Director-General of a non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council cum Presidential Economic Advisory Council.”
Onanuga said the Office of the Chief of Staff first raised the alarm on October 17, 2025, after the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council reported that another agency appeared to be working at cross-purposes with it.
Gbajabiamila, in a letter to the DSS and Police, described the group as “fraudsters and imposters” using forged appointment letters with falsified signatures, seals and reference numbers.
The fake council, he said, claimed an office at Federal Secretariat Complex Phase III and had been holding meetings with Nigerians and foreigners, and even requesting a note verbale from the U.S. Ministry of Foreign Affairs for staff visas.
“This act not only constitutes a serious criminal act but also undermines the integrity of the presidency,” the Chief of Staff wrote, attaching the forged letter, the visa request, and photos from the group’s website.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also queried Adeyemi after he met ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel, Asokoro, on October 10, 2025, without ministry clearance. In an October 15 letter, the ministry called it a contravention of diplomatic rules.
The Office of the National Security Adviser and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation also sought clarification.
Gbajabiamila responded twice, on October 18 and November 5, 2025, stating he never issued any appointment letter and that “the Chief of Staff does not make appointments” — that power rests with the SGF.
“Prince Adeniyi Matthew is unknown to any office, nor do we have any dealings with the said council,” he said.
Police arrested Adeyemi in Abuja on October 27, 2025, at his Secretariat office. Searches of his office and Suleja’s home recovered forged documents. He alleged one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola helped procure the fake letter, but police found Tanimola had died in a fire at Kachi Hotel, Abuja, on October 22.
Investigators concluded the agency was fictitious, the appointment letter was forged, and Adeyemi had falsely sought a U.S. note verbale.
Police said he operated 34 bank accounts, nine under the names of fake agencies — FCT Investment Promotion Agency, Public Private Partnership, FIPA-APP and FCT Investment Promotion Act — and even misled the Accountant-General’s Office to open a CBN account. No government funds entered it.
“The act constitutes criminal forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence,” said Assistant Commissioner Kabir Mogaji.
On November 27, 2025, police filed an eight-count charge at the Federal High Court, Abuja, against Adeyemi and two accomplices. He is due in court on July 27, 2026.
Onanuga said Adeyemi, while on police bail, recently claimed Gbajabiamila appointed him DG, contradicting his earlier police statement. This prompted a June 8 disclaimer from the Chief of Staff.
The Presidency noted Adeyemi’s history: in November 2016, he claimed to be “President-General of the World Youth Organisation, an affiliate of the UN,” until the UN denied the body existed.
“Politicians and members of the public weaponising Adeyemi’s claim against the Chief of Staff should refrain from swallowing his narrative hook, line and sinker,” Onanuga said, urging the public to await the court’s judgement as the matter is subjudice.