Adeyemi: Fresh Controversy Trails Alleged Ghost Agency, PFIPC

Fresh controversy has erupted over the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council following the resurfacing of a video in which its self-acclaimed Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, defended the existence of the disputed agency.

The controversy deepened after reports indicated that signage directing visitors to the purported office of the council remained displayed at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, despite repeated denials by the Presidency that the agency was ever created by the Federal Government.

The latest development has raised further questions over how a body described by the Presidency as non-existent allegedly appeared in official government records and operated publicly.

In the resurfaced video, recorded during a press briefing in late June, Adeyemi challenged the position of the Presidency, including statements attributed to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

He argued that the appearance of the council in official budget documents contradicted claims that it had no legal status.

“The national budget does not emerge in isolation. It passes through multiple layers of technical drafting, executive coordination, ministerial inputs, Budget Office review and legislative scrutiny,” Adeyemi said.

He further questioned how references to an agency described as non-existent could have entered official government records.

“At what point did references to a non-existent agency enter the official record? And if they are indeed contained in official documents, what does that say about the integrity of the process that produced and approved them?” he asked.

Adeyemi also claimed that the council maintained several accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, including domiciliary, pound sterling and Treasury Single Account accounts.

“The same agency described as non-existent has a domiciliary account, a pounds sterling account and a Treasury Single Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria. Is it even possible to open such accounts with fictitious documents, especially at the Central Bank?” he said.

He also alleged that the Chief of Staff demanded 48 per cent of the council’s proposed ₦27.4bn take-off grant, amounting to about ₦12.5bn.

The Presidency has repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting that the PFIPC was never established by the Federal Government and had no legal backing.

According to the Office of the Chief of Staff, Adeyemi allegedly forged official documents, including appointment letters bearing the names and signatures of senior government officials, to present himself as the Director-General of the purported council.

The Presidency maintained that no such council was legally created or recognised by the Federal Government.

However, the matter took a fresh turn on Monday after media reports indicated that a directional sign bearing the PFIPC name was still mounted inside the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.

The signage was said to be pointing visitors to an office located within a section occupied by the Federal Ministry of Health.

The continued presence of the signage has added another layer to the growing ₦1.3bn ghost agency controversy.

It has also raised fresh concerns over how the disputed body allegedly gained visibility within a federal government building, appeared in official documents and became linked to claims of budgetary provisions and bank accounts.

Investigators are expected to determine how the alleged council featured in government records and whether officials within the system aided its public operation despite the Presidency’s insistence that it never existed.