The Presidency on Wednesday dismissed claims linking President Femi Gbajabiamila to the appointment of Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, insisting that the latter headed a non-existent government agency and is currently facing criminal prosecution over alleged forgery, impersonation and fraud.
In a statement dated July 1, 2026, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the Office of the Chief of Staff was, in fact, the first to alert security agencies to Adeyemi’s activities after complaints emerged that he had been presenting himself as the Director-General of a fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, also referred to as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
According to Onanuga, the Chief of Staff petitioned both the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force on October 17, 2025, requesting a full investigation into individuals allegedly forging appointment letters bearing his office’s name.
Quoting from the petition, Onanuga said: “The attention of this office has been drawn to the activities of certain individuals and groups engaged in the forgery of official appointment letters purportedly issued from my office. The fake documents, bearing falsified signatures, reference/folio numbers, and seals, have been used to claim leadership appointments to non-existent entities, with particular reference to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.”
The petition further stated: “The aforementioned entity under the leadership of one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew as Director-General is said to have an office at the Federal Secretariat Complex Phase III, 2nd Floor. Also, they have been parading themselves as a legitimate government agency, hosting meetings with both foreigners and Nigerian citizens, and even going so far as to request a note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States of America to facilitate visas for some of their staff.”
Describing the alleged scheme as a serious threat to the integrity of government, the Chief of Staff added: “The above development not only constitutes a serious criminal act but also undermines the integrity of the Presidency and the credibility of official government communication. I therefore urge you to initiate a thorough investigation to identify and apprehend those involved and also to uncover the network facilitating the forgery.”
Onanuga disclosed that concerns over the alleged fake agency had also reached the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sought clarification after Adeyemi reportedly held a meeting with foreign diplomats at the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments without the ministry’s knowledge.
In a letter dated October 15, 2025, signed by Ambassador Anderson Madubuike, the ministry stated: “This act contravenes extant rules and regulations guiding diplomatic practices globally.”
The statement said the matter was subsequently escalated to the Office of the National Security Adviser and later to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, which requested clarification from the Chief of Staff.
Responding on November 5, 2025, the Chief of Staff categorically denied appointing Adeyemi or recognising the purported agency.
“Prince Adeniyi Matthew, director-general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, is unknown to any office, nor do we have any dealings with the said council,” he wrote.
He added: “My attention was drawn to a letter of this purported application, which is fake, and my office has instructed the police and other relevant security agencies to carry out investigations on the person and the entity he claims to represent.”
According to Onanuga, police investigations culminated in Adeyemi’s arrest on October 27, 2025, at his office within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
The Presidency said detectives recovered forged documents during searches conducted at both his office and residence in Suleja, while investigations established that the agency he claimed to head did not exist.
The statement further alleged that Adeyemi admitted during interrogation that one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola assisted him in obtaining the fake appointment letter. However, police investigations later confirmed that Tanimola had died in a fire incident at Kachi Hotel in Abuja on October 22, 2025, five days before Adeyemi’s arrest.
According to the Presidency, investigators also discovered that Adeyemi allegedly operated 34 bank accounts, including nine opened in the names of fictitious agencies, and fraudulently secured a Central Bank of Nigeria account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The police reportedly concluded that while no government funds were paid into the account, Adeyemi’s actions amounted to forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.
Quoting the police investigation report, Onanuga said: “The act of the suspect constitutes criminal forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence, thereby bringing the office of the Chief of Staff to the President and the Presidency to disrepute before the public and international community.”
He disclosed that an eight-count charge was filed against Adeyemi and two alleged accomplices before the Federal High Court on November 27, 2025, with the matter scheduled for hearing on July 27, 2026.
The Presidency noted that Adeyemi was on police bail when he recently claimed that the Chief of Staff had appointed him as Director-General of the fictitious agency, describing the allegation as contradictory to his earlier statements to investigators.
Onanuga maintained that Adeyemi had a history of making false claims, recalling that he once presented himself in 2016 as an ambassador and President-General of the so-called World Youth Organisation, allegedly affiliated with the United Nations, before the UN denied the existence of such a body.
He urged politicians and members of the public not to rely on Adeyemi’s claims while the matter remains before the court.
“Politicians and members of the public who are weaponising Adeyemi’s claim against the Chief of Staff should refrain from swallowing his narrative hook, line and sinker. They are advised to await the trial of Adeyemi and his accomplices, as well as the court’s judgement, as comments made today are sub judice,” Onanuga stated.
