The police are set to arraign the Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, before the Federal High Court on Tuesday.
In a fresh charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, the police charged Adeyemi and two others with eight counts bordering on forgery, impersonation and related offences.
The charge was filed on November 27, 2025, by police prosecutor Wisdom Madaki.
Adeyemi was alleged to have operated the fictitious agency from the second floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja, before his arrest.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the activities of the fictitious agency within 30 days.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports on Sunday that when the case came up on June 16 for the defendants to take their plea, Adeyemi was said to be indisposed, prompting Justice Mohammed Umar to adjourn the matter.
According to the court documents, witnesses listed in the case include the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, Paul Emmanuel, Jeremiah Imoukhede, and Ituah Sylvester.
Others are civil servants in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
Also listed as witnesses are Ojo Victor, Omeh Amarachukwu and Wakili Saidu, all of whom were allegedly posted to work with Adeyemi at the non-existent agency.
Also listed are Joy Ngwoke, the owner of Kachi Hotel in Abuja, and Ven Okoriko, the pastor of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, Maitama.
The documentary evidence expected to be tendered by the police includes the police investigation report, Gbajabiamila’s petition dated October 17, 2025, and Adeyemi’s alleged fake presidential appointment letter dated March 8, 2024.
Other documents include Adeyemi’s request for a note verbale sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the approvals he allegedly obtained to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, his request for approval for self-accounting sent to the OAGF, and the approval for the take-off of the PFIPC.
The prosecution also listed a letter requesting collaboration with the ministry on land acquisition and office spaces across the 36 states of the federation, statements made by the witnesses and defendants, as well as photographs.
The police stated in the court documents that “the prosecution shall at the trial call any other related witness or witnesses to prove its case.”
Opposition demands probe
Opposition figures and several political parties have faulted the Senate’s decision to shelve an independent investigation into the controversial N1.3bn budgetary allocation to the purported PFIPC, insisting the Red Chamber has a constitutional responsibility to account for how the agency found its way into the 2026 Appropriation Act.
They registered their grievances in a separate interview with The PUNCH.
The parties argued that allowing the ICPC to handle the matter alone was insufficient, maintaining that the National Assembly must also investigate its own appropriation process to restore public confidence in the integrity of the budget.
Their reactions followed Wednesday’s decision by the Senate to decline a fresh probe into the controversial allocation and instead await the outcome of the ICPC investigation ordered by the President.
While some opposition figures also renewed calls for Gbajabiamila to temporarily step aside pending the conclusion of investigations, others insisted that any determination of culpability should await the outcome of an independent inquiry.
Speaking exclusively with our correspondent, the National Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Osa Director, described the controversy as a major institutional scandal that required immediate legislative scrutiny.
He said, “Sincerely speaking, if the Senate wants to live up to its responsibility, it doesn’t need to be prodded to probe its mess because that’s a scandal that could result in the resignation of even the principal officers of the Senate, especially those who were involved in budgeting.
“If you say that it is a fake agency, how come it survives your vetting process? So, I am ashamed and disappointed that even the Senate had to be prodded to investigate. Ideally, they should investigate it. That is not a contestation at all.
“However, I am supportive of dissenting lawmakers who want the matter properly investigated by the Senate to see how a so-called illegal body or organisation find itself on the budget line. It’s quite disappointing. It needs to be probed. Public office holders must be held accountable,” he said.
Reacting to Tinubu’s directive for an investigation while simultaneously expressing confidence in Gbajabiamila, Director described the development as contradictory.
“That is the contradiction we are talking about. The truth is that Nigerians are no fools. We all know what is going on. Some people are being shielded, and they are trying to cover it.
“In a responsible clime, should we still be talking about Gbajabiamila remaining in his position while these investigations are ongoing?
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress had earlier released a statement calling for him to step aside. That remains our position,” he added.
A former National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, Ralph Nwosu, also criticised the Senate’s stance, accusing public institutions of failing to discharge their constitutional responsibilities.
He said, “It is unfortunate how such elected public office holders have been abrogating their jobs, failing to do what they are elected to do. That is the biggest failure of the total system capture that has taken place under Tinubu.
“Obviously, nobody can act without Tinubu giving the directive. Even the ICPC and EFCC can’t do anything on their own.
“They will not act unless there is a direct instruction from the President. I doubt if anything will happen, not in the National Assembly, judiciary or any of the agencies of government.
“That is the tragedy we have found ourselves in. Yet, tomorrow, some of these people will wear big agbada or suits to claim I am a former senator when they actually took up those positions for their own personal gains, not because they represented anybody in their constituency.”
Nwosu accused democratic institutions of failing in their oversight responsibilities.
He also defended the opposition coalition efforts, saying they were aimed at ensuring democratic change through the 2027 elections.
“This is the time we want most opposition figures to continue to speak truth to power. And that is why people like me didn’t have any problem in saying, come, let’s build a major coalition. My interest in it is for the country.
“I’m ready to make all the sacrifices to ensure that this coalition works. And we are on it. What is bad is bad. When the country is decaying, it affects everybody. Our democracy is rotten. All these things coming out in the public space are being viewed all over the world.
“It’s affecting the credibility of our nation to do business. Imagine, the so-called fake DG of the agency said it was about trying to bring foreign investments into Nigeria. When all this fraud is shown to the world, how do you think any investor will want to come? We are in a big mess.
“But for us in the opposition, we’re navigating. We don’t want to throw the country into a crisis that we will not be able to navigate, which would be impossible to navigate. That’s why we are being careful to see to it that the 2027 election happens and this government is voted out democratically,” he stated.
The National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said neither the Senate nor the ICPC could independently command public confidence in the investigation.
He said, “We don’t have confidence in the ICPC and Senate to investigate this matter.
“The ADC’s position is that there should be an independent panel of inquiry made up of prominent citizens of integrity to investigate this matter and establish the culpability or otherwise of every single actor identified in the institutions, including the oversight, appropriation and relevant committees of the National Assembly.
“Even the CBN and the police team that arrested the guy in 2025, Prince Adeniyi himself and others who are directly mentioned must be investigated; then, at the end, the Chief of Staff that he directly mentioned.
“Again, one will wonder why the President is expressing a vote of confidence in his Chief of Staff even before the investigation started. It’s all drama.
“So the President can ignore us and continue to pretend that this does not matter. But this is not just a national scandal. It’s an international scandal. We are giving the impression that it’s either that the Nigerian system is so endemically corrupt or it is dangerously vulnerable.”
Abdullahi warned that if the Federal Government and relevant authorities fail in their duty to bring those found guilty to book, it will hurt the nation’s image on the international scene.
“If it is true that some people colluded with Adeyemi to set up this agency, why are they denying him now? And if he was able to bring an entire system up to the highest level, including penetrating the Central Bank of Nigeria by himself, that shows how vulnerable the system is.
“The diplomatic and global community will be looking at Nigeria now with suspicion. When they meet a Nigerian agency official next time, they’ll be wondering whether it’s genuine or phantom. The damage is disparaging. So it’s not something that the government can keep as just an internal disciplinary measure.
“It’s something that the government must take the opportunity to put beyond all doubts. So if we are not seizing that opportunity, I doubt the perception of corruption around this issue of collusion by government officials will go away,” he noted.
On calls for Gbajabiamila to vacate office pending investigations, Abdullahi said due process should prevail but argued that stepping aside would strengthen public confidence in the outcome.
He said, “I am not pronouncing that the Chief of Staff is guilty of anything. Anybody’s culpability can only be established after a thorough investigation. We must not condemn anybody before their culpability is established.
“But when you are fingered in this kind of situation, the common sense thing to do, the dignified thing to do, is to put yourself in a position where no one would suspect that you are likely to obstruct the process of the investigation.
“So I think the dignified thing for Gbajabiamila to do is to, all by himself, accept to proceed on leave until the investigation is concluded, because it’s his name that is being dragged around. No office should be more important to anybody than your name.
“You should be writing to Tinubu to say, ‘Mr President, please, I know you trust me, but let me proceed on leave until the investigation is concluded, because when the outcomes arrive, I don’t want anybody to say I influenced it. I need to clear my name beyond all reasonable doubt.’
“I think that’s what he should be saying, not sitting pretty in office and thereby giving the impression that he’s determined to cover up something.”
The Labour Party also backed a legislative probe, although it welcomed Tinubu’s directive to the ICPC.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, said the Senate had an obligation to explain how the controversial allocation was inserted into the budget.
“But first of all, it is quite gladdening and heartwarming that Mr President decided to direct the ICPC to probe that matter. It shows that he is responsive to the controversy that trailed the agency.
“But beyond his directive, the National Assembly owes it to Nigerians to investigate or launch a probe into how the N1.3bn found its way into the 2026 budget. There is no sugarcoating the matter.
“What the President gave was an executive fiat that is within his powers as the head of the executive government. I have gone through the directive again, and I have not seen anywhere that he exempted the National Assembly, which is supposed to be an independent arm of government, from carrying out its own probe.
“So, because there was a budgetary allocation to that agency, there is a need for the National Assembly to let Nigerians know how that agency got allocated the N1.3bn in the 2026 budget.
“And this is without prejudice to whatever all the dramatis personae in this matter are canvassing. I am only saying that there is a duty that the National Assembly owes to explain how that budgetary allocation came about.
“My opinion is not suggestive of the culpability of the National Assembly on this matter. I am only saying that there is supposed to be a transparent role on this issue,” he said.
The latest criticism followed Wednesday’s plenary, where Senator Kawu Sumaila (Kano South) urged the Senate to investigate how the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council secured a budgetary allocation of N1.302bn under budget code 0111062001 in the 2026 Appropriation Act despite the Presidency’s insistence that no such agency existed.
However, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over plenary, ruled that the matter should come before the Senate as a substantive motion and argued that lawmakers should allow the ICPC to conclude the investigation ordered by Tinubu before embarking on any legislative inquiry.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Sumaila later told journalists that his concern was not whether the agency existed or not, but how the controversial allocation found its way into the national budget.
According to him, the issue raised fundamental questions about the integrity of the National Assembly’s appropriation process and required an independent legislative investigation.
The controversy erupted after Tinubu directed the ICPC to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the activities of the purported PFIPC, which the Presidency described as fictitious and lacking any legal basis.
The Presidency also asked the anti-graft agency to investigate allegations that one Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew falsely presented himself as the council’s Director-General, allegedly using forged government documents, opening bank accounts in the names of purported government agencies and seeking official recognition and diplomatic support.
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