A trail of correspondence between top government agencies and the disowned Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has revealed how he penetrated the highest level of the Nigerian government to execute what now appears to be illegal activities.
Documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES showed that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) acted on letters received from Mr Adeyemi’s PFIPC, believing them to have originated from a legitimate agency under the Nigerian presidency.
In some letters reviewed by this newspaper, Mr Adeyemi “forged” the State House letterhead to address other government agencies, but signed them in his name as the DG of PFIPC.
The presidency alleged that Mr Adeyemi concocted all of those letters and the claims therein, and has charged him in court. In the eight-count charge, Mr Adeyemi faces a maximum prison sentence of 21 years without the option of a fine on each charge, and up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine on one additional charge.
But despite evidence that he operated a fake agency and made false claims, Mr Adeyemi has insisted he did nothing wrong. Instead, he is accusing the government of simply trying to shut him up and vowing to prove his innocence in court.
He also accused Femi Gbajabiamila, the chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, of falsehood and corruption. But Mr Gbajabiamila was the first official to disown Mr Adeyemi and his organisation publicly. It was also the chief of staff who requested the Police and the State Security Service to investigate Mr Adeyemi for criminal activities.
Believing that the letters from Mr Adeyemi were from a genuine government official, the OSGF and OAGF processed a request for an office space for his non-existent agency at the Federal Secretariat and directed the CBN to open two domiciliary accounts for the organisation.
The OAGF also granted the organisation self-accounting status and assigned it a budget code, ensuring it received a budgetary allocation. A self-accounting status grants an MDA full control over its accounting records and enables it to prepare and submit transcripts directly to the Treasury.
How Mr Adeyemi unravelled
On 16 October 2025, the foreign affairs ministry wrote to Mr Gbajabiamila and the National Security Adviser (NSA), requesting clarification on Mr Adeyemi’s status.
A letter signed by the ministry’s Director, Economic, Trade and Investment Department, Anderson Madubike, said the request followed Mr Adeyemi’s meeting with members of the diplomatic community on 10 October 2025, without recourse to the foreign affairs ministry.
“It should be noted that this act contravenes extant rules and regulations guiding diplomatic practices globally,” the letter reads in part.
“Consequently,y it has become necessary to seek clarification on the status of Prince Adeyemi to enable the ministry to appropriately respond to some diplomatic missions requesting information on the council and the Director-General, following the receipt of the invitation extended to the members of the diplomatic community.”
In his reply on 27 October, Mr Gbajabiamila told the ministry that Mr Adeyemi’s PFIPC “is fake.”
“In future, it is advised that any letter supposedly issued by the Chief of Staff to the President should be cleared from this Office before further action is taken,” Mr Gbajabiamila wrote.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Gbajabiamila then prompted the police investigation that led to the arrest and prosecution of Mr Adeyemi.
But before the unravelling, Mr Adeyemi had widely paraded himself as a government appointee, met with senior officials, including the then Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar; Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmed; Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, and members of the diplomatic community.
Appointment letter
Mr Adeyemi’s saga began with a purported letter of appointment dated 8 March 2024 and titled “Conveyance of Approval Appointment as the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council”
The letter claimed President Bola Tinubu approved Mr Adeyemi’s appointment, effective 1 March 2024. That claim has now turned out to be false.
“His Excellency, as well as the good people of Nigeria, expects that you will discharge your duties with absolute loyalty, dedication and diligence,” reads part of the letter.
The letter was written on what appeared to be the letterhead of ‘State House’, and a signature was placed on Mr Gbajabiamila’s name. The Chief of Staff has now said he never wrote or signed such a letter.
PREMIUM TIMES has also gathered that all letters of appointment issued by the presidency are issued and signed by the Office of the SGF, not the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
When Mr Gbajabiamila became aware of the so-called appointment letter in Mr Adeyemi’s possession, he promptly wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), requesting that his agency investigate Mr Adeyemi for alleged forgery.
In his letter dated 17 October 2025, Mr Gbajabiamila accused Mr Adeyemi of forging official appointment letters, falsifying signatures, reference numbers and seals.
Mr Gbajabiamila also wrote to the State Security Service about the matter. He sent reminders on 27 April and 22 May this year, according to copies of the letters seen by this newspaper.
Domiciliary Account
On 29 July 2025, the OAGF, acting on request from Mr Adeyemi, wrote to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), asking it to create four domiciliary accounts for two MDAs, the NUC and PFIPC.
On 13 August 2025, the CBN wrote to the OAGF to confirm that it had created a dollar and pounds account for the PFIPC.
In the letter seen by this newspaper, the CBN listed the account names and account numbers. The account was named “Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council World Investment Summit”
A fake takeoff letter?
A year after the purported appointment, on 26 February 2025, a letter on purported State House letterhead and purportedly signed by Mr Gbajabiamila conveyed approval for the takeoff of the PEAC/PFIPC, with effect from 3 March 2025.
“Recall, the council was established through Presidential Executive Order 5 on 24 February 2023,” it reads in part. Mr Gbajabiamila has denied writing, authorising or signing such a letter.
The letter claimed PFIPC was established under Executive Order 5 dated 24 February 2023. However, Executive Order No. 5 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 and relates to local content in science, engineering, and technology projects. It does not refer to creating the PFIPC.
Office Accommodation
Months before the purported takeoff date, records show that Mr Adeyemi wrote to the OSGF requesting office space and approval for self-accounting status.
On 7 November 2024, Mr Adeyemi wrote to the OSGF requesting office space. He signed the letter as the DG of PFIPC.
On 21 November 2024, the OSGF forwarded the request, along with those of other MDAs, to the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), requesting that the EFCC allocate offices from recovered Federal Government properties.
It is still unclear on what exact date an office was approved for the “agency” at the Federal Secretariat. But court documents showed Mr Adeyemi operated from the 2nd Floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja.
Self-Accounting status
On 13 January 2025, Mr Adeyemi wrote to the OAGF, requesting approval for a self-accounting status. Although he used State House letterhead, he signed the letter as the DG of PFIPC.
In the letter seen by this newspaper, he said the institution had been assigned a budget code.
“The institution has been assigned the Administrative Code Number 0111062001 in the National Chart of Accounts for budgeting, accounting and reporting of financial returns to the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and other relevant agencies,” reads part of the letter.
On 17 January 2025, the OAGF replied, listing the requirements and conditions that must be met before self-accounting status can be granted to the organisation.
Although PREMIUM TIMES couldn’t get the OAGF’s reply of 17 January 2025, a note on the OAGF website listed the conditions to include a fully constituted internal audit unit, existence of approved accounting code, existence of accounting manual, existence of audit manual, a well-equipped central pay office with burglary proof and strong iron safes, conducive office accommodation & other infrastructures, secure voucher room, and adequate manpower.
On 12 March 2025, Mr Adeyemi wrote to the OAGF again to inform it that his organisation had met the stipulated requirements for a verification for approval of self-accounting status. This letter also used the State House letterhead but was signed by Mr Adeyemi, the DG of PFIPC.
The OAGF approved the self-accounting status two weeks later, on 26 March 2025, and granted PFIPC a six-month provisional self-accountant status effective from 27 May 2025, according to letters seen by this newspaper.
Collaboration with the Ministry of Lands
In another letter to the Ministry of Lands and Housing, Mr Adeyemi sought approval for offices across the 36 states of the federation and “lands for the establishment of Special Economic Zones”.
The letter, dated January 2025, was titled “Request for collaboration with the Ministry in the Area of Land Acquisition and Offices across the 36 states of the federation”
He also sought intervention in infrastructural development from the lands and housing ministry.
Staff deployment
By April 2025, Mr Adeyemi used a PFIPC letterhead to write to the OAGF, requesting staff to fill five vacancies, including a Principal Accountant, Accountant I, Principal Auditor, Senior Auditor, and Auditor I.
“Kindly note that the office has the requirement(s)/conditions of self-accounting status according to FR1602(2009),” parts of the letter he signed, reads.
In another letter on the same date, he requested the deployment of Ogaba Harry and Esther Orji from the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President (OCEAP) to the PFIPC.
“We are aware that there is a need to formally deploy (post) them for the purpose of records and documentation,” he said.
It is yet unclear exactly when the deployments were approved. But PREMIUM TIMES can report that at least three civil servants from OAGF were deployed on 28 August, 2025, according to a posting letter published on the OAGF website.
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Letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On 1 September 2025, Mr Adeyemi wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seeking a Note Verbale to the United States embassy to facilitate visas for seven individuals travelling with him to attend the African Economic Global Convergence (AEGC) Summit 2025. PREMIUM TIMES cannot verify if the note-verbal was processed.
However, the police began investigating the allegations of forgery against him on 23 October 2025. Days later, on 27 October 2025, the police apprehended Mr Adeyemi from the office where he operated at the federal secretariat and obtained a search warrant for the office and his residence in Suleja, Niger State.
He has been charged in court, and a hearing in the case has been set for 27 July.
