Self-styled Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Prince Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, has narrated how the controversial agency found its way into the 2026 budget despite his arrest before the appropriation process was concluded.
Adeyemi made the disclosure in an interview with social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, released shortly after his arrest. He insisted that Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, had no hand in the N1.3 billion allocation, claiming he personally lobbied top Budget Office officials for the agency’s inclusion.
According to him, he first approached the Budget Office in December 2024 seeking a slot in the 2025 Appropriation Bill but was told the process had already closed. Officials reportedly assured him the request would instead be considered for 2026.
Adeyemi said a female staffer helped him gain access to a director’s office, where he was asked for “shini” — a request he claimed he could not meet. He said he made no cash payments, only promising officials future employment opportunities once the agency became operational.
He maintained that all efforts stalled the moment he was arrested, and that he was unaware the agency had eventually been inserted into the budget until after the fact.
On the separate allegation that N400 million was paid in dollars to facilitate his appointment, Adeyemi said the funds were handled entirely by his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola, and that he could not confirm whether the money reached Gbajabiamila. He repeated that he had never met the Chief of Staff in person, either before or after his appointment.
Reps open hearing on PFIPC’s legal status
Separately, the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating PFIPC opened hearings, taking testimony from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), both of which distanced themselves from the council’s creation.
Head of Civil Service, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, told lawmakers her office has no constitutional role in establishing agencies, only in approving administrative structures. She said PFIPC sought approval for its organisational structure in August 2025 but was turned down for lacking proper documentation.
She confirmed, however, that during the 2025 manpower budget defence, officials linked to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/PFIPC had requested a recruitment waiver, citing 14 officers already seconded from other agencies. That request, she said, was processed alongside 87 other MDAs and an establishment of 314 positions was eventually approved — though irregularities were later found in the legal documents the council submitted. She denied that her office deployed staff to the council or allocated it office space.
A CBN director, Hamisu Abdullahi, told the panel the bank opened two domiciliary accounts for the council in July 2025 on the authorisation of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, but that both accounts were never activated due to missing signatories and have remained at zero balance since inception. He said the CBN had no direct dealings with the council.
Committee chairman Abdulmalik Danga ordered the CBN to submit full records of all transactions tied to both councils. House Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, who inaugurated the committee, said its mandate is to establish facts, not fuel controversy, and directed it to determine the legal basis for PFIPC’s creation and how it entered the federal budget.
Gbajabiamila appears before ICPC
Meanwhile, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila appeared before the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Monday, following President Tinubu’s directive for a full investigation into the scandal.
His lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, confirmed in a statement that Gbajabiamila appeared around 3pm, answered questions, and has since returned to his duty post.
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