The Presidency has issued a detailed statement exposing the activities of one Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who has been parading himself as the Director-General of a fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
The Office of the Chief of Staff to the President first raised the alarm in October 2025 after officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council complained that another government agency appeared to be functioning at cross-purposes with it.
The Chief of Staff subsequently wrote to the Department of State Services and the Police to investigate what he described as “fraudsters and imposters” forging appointment letters purportedly from his office.
Investigations revealed that Adeyemi had forged his appointment letter and was operating a fictitious agency from an office at the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja.
He had been hosting meetings with foreigners and Nigerian citizens, and even requested a note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate US visas for his staff.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also raised concerns about Adeyemi’s activities, writing to the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff in October 2025 after he held a meeting with ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel in Asokoro without recourse to the ministry.
Adeyemi was arrested on October 27, 2025, at his office in Abuja. Police searches recovered vital documents and exhibits from his office and home in Suleja.
In his statement, Adeyemi claimed one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola assisted him in procuring the fake appointment letter.
However, Tanimola was later found to have died in a fire incident at Kachi Hotel in Abuja on October 22, five days before Adeyemi’s arrest.
Police investigations established that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, including nine opened in the names of his fictitious agencies.
He had fraudulently opened a CBN account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, though no government money was transferred into it.
An eight-count charge was filed against Adeyemi and two accomplices at the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 27, 2025. He is due in court on July 27, 2026.
The Presidency noted that Adeyemi has a history of false presentation. In November 2016, he paraded himself as an ambassador and President-General of the World Youth Organisation, an affiliate of the United Nations, until the UN denied the existence of such a body.
The Presidency advised politicians and members of the public who have been weaponising Adeyemi’s claim against the Chief of Staff to await his trial and the court’s judgment, as comments made today are subjudice.
