PFIPC scam: DSS, EFCC should unravel criminal network — Presidency

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

The Presidency has told the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to unmask the internal criminal elements working with Prince Matthew Adeniyi to operate a fictitious presidential agency for prosecution.

The Presidency alleged that there are internal collaborators enabling Prince Adeniyi in the smear campaign against the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, who made the declaration in a post on his X handle, accused Adeniyi of being an “irredeemable con artist” who is expertly exploiting Nigerian public psychology regarding corruption to shield himself from criminal accountability by dragging the name of the Chief of Staff into his multi-billion-naira fraudulent enterprise.

He said investigators from the Department of State Services, the Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had been tasked with unraveling the full extent of the collaboration that allowed Adeniyi to forge presidential appointment letters, maintain 34 bank accounts in the names of fictitious government bodies, host foreign ambassadors and open a Central Bank account, all while parading himself as the director-general of a non-existent body called the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.

Ajayi said: “What is not in doubt is that internal collaborators enabled Adeniyi to get this far. That is precisely what investigators from the DSS, the Police and the EFCC must now unravel.

“The criminal network within the affected institutions must be dismantled and everyone found to have played a role should be arrested and prosecuted.”

He further wrote: “In Nigeria, the easiest and most believable allegation anyone can throw at a public officer is corruption. Once that accusation is thrown into the mix, the water is polluted, the lines are blurred and everyone is kept busy arguing over distractions rather than the real issues.

“Matthew Adeniyi understands Nigerian public psychology and he is exploiting it expertly to shield himself. He is an irredeemable con artist who is attempting to drag the name of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, into his criminal enterprise. The Chief of Staff is simply his last straw.

“Many commentators have rightly pointed to the systemic failure that allowed such an elaborate fraudulent scheme to flourish. Daredevil criminals who operate around government institutions with the sole aim of pulling off spectacular heists are common across the world.

“Some succeed, many fail. The part many commentators have overlooked, however, is how that same system eventually detected the fraud and fished him out.

“Contrary to the anything-goes narrative being promoted, it was the system itself that raised the red flag and dealt with it administratively.”

The presidential media aide further said: “First, officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the statutory agency responsible for investment promotion, together with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, identified the anomaly and lodged complaints with the appropriate authorities for clarification. That is a system functioning as it should. It is a system capable of detecting an aberration.”

Recall that on June 11, 2026, Gbajabiamila issued a public disclaimer alerting the public, foreign missions, financial institutions and multilateral organisations that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council had no official standing and that no appointment had been made under its name.

On July 1, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed that Adeniyi had been charged with eight criminal counts at the Federal High Court since November 27, 2025; that he maintained 34 bank accounts in the names of fictitious government agencies; that he had fraudulently opened a CBN account by deceiving the Accountant-General’s office; and that the key witness who allegedly procured his forged appointment letter died in a hotel fire five days before Adeniyi’s own arrest on October 27, 2025.

But human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, challenged the Presidency, saying it lacked the constitutional authority to exonerate any party in the matter and calling for the ICPC to independently investigate both Gbajabiamila and Adeniyi.

Falana also demanded an explanation for how N24bn was allegedly budgeted for the non-existent agency and how it succeeded in opening a CBN account.

Adeniyi is due before the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 27, 2026, alongside two accomplices who are still at large.

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