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• Says Gbajabiamila was first to blow whistle, urges media to stop weaponising allegations
The Presidency has accused Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew of masterminding an elaborate fraud by posing as the director-general of a non-existent government body and using forged documents to impersonate officials and solicit diplomatic favours.
In a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, was the first to alert security agencies after receiving complaints from the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) that another organisation appeared to be operating at cross-purposes with it.
“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 statement recalled the Chief of Staff as writing in an October 17 petition to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force.
The petition, according to the statement, included a copy of a forged appointment letter, a request for a note verbale to the United States Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and photographs obtained from the group’s website.
According to the Presidency, the group operated under the name “Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council cum Presidential Economic Advisory Council”, with an office allegedly located at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja. The alleged impersonators reportedly held meetings with foreign and Nigerian nationals and sought a note verbale to facilitate visas for staff members.
“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,” the Chief of Staff wrote, urging a comprehensive investigation to “identify and apprehend those involved and also to uncover the network facilitating the forgery.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earlier alerted national security agencies, the Presidency said, after Adeyemi allegedly met with ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments in Asokoro on October 10, 2025, without notifying the ministry.
“This act contravenes extant rules and regulations guiding diplomatic practices globally,” Ambassador Anderson Madubuike wrote to the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff on October 15, 2025.
The statement further noted that police investigators moved swiftly following the Chief of Staff’s petition. Officers reportedly arrested Adeyemi at the Secretariat office from which he allegedly operated on October 27, 2025. Searches conducted at the office and his residence in Suleja reportedly recovered documents described by the police as “vital exhibits”.
In a statement to the police, Adeyemi allegedly implicated one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola as having helped procure the forged appointment letter. The police later established that Tanimola died in a fire at Kachi Hotel, Abuja, on October 22, 2025. Officers reportedly viewed the body at the morgue, the statement added.
According to the Presidency, police investigators concluded that the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council was fictitious; that Adeyemi forged his appointment letter and other documents; and that he falsely claimed government status to seek diplomatic facilitation.
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The police further alleged that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, nine of them in the names of entities such as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Public Private Partnership (FIPA-APP), and that he used forged documents to open a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. The police, however, stated that no government funds were deposited into the account.
“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,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Kabir Mogaji wrote in the investigation report cited by the Presidency.
The statement added that, based on the findings of the investigation, the police filed an eight-count charge against Adeyemi and two alleged accomplices at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on November 27, 2025. Adeyemi is expected to return to court on July 27, 2026, according to the statement.
While on police bail, Adeyemi reportedly told media organisations that the Chief of Staff had appointed him director-general of the purported council — a claim the Presidency said directly contradicted his earlier statement to investigators.
The Chief of Staff issued a fresh disclaimer on June 8, 2026, reiterating that Adeyemi is an impostor and unknown to the Presidency.
“The Office of the Chief of Staff does not make appointments or write letters, as these are the exclusive preserve of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” the Chief of Staff wrote in correspondence cited by the Presidency.
On November 5, 2025, he again denied any dealings with Adeyemi or recognition of the alleged council and instructed security agencies to investigate the matter.
The Presidency’s statement described Adeyemi as a serial impostor. It recalled that in November 2016 he presented himself as an ambassador and president-general of a purported World Youth Organisation (WYO), said to be affiliated with the United Nations, a claim later repudiated by the global body.
“Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew is a clear case of a con artist who appears to have built a web of false claims to deceive unsuspecting government officials and the public into playing by his scam book,” the statement said.
The Presidency urged politicians, media organisations and members of the public to refrain from weaponising Adeyemi’s recent allegations against the Chief of Staff, noting that the matter remains before the court and is therefore sub judice.
