Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has alleged that internal collaborators within government institutions enabled the alleged fraudulent activities linked to the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
Ajayi made the allegation while reacting to the controversy surrounding Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who allegedly presented himself as the Director-General of the non-existent agency.
In a statement shared on his social media page, the presidential aide commended officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for detecting irregularities in the activities of the purported organisation and raising the alarm.
He, however, said security agencies must go beyond the arrest and prosecution of Adeyemi by identifying all persons within government institutions who allegedly facilitated the scheme.
According to Ajayi, the controversy has been wrongly framed in some quarters, with allegations of corruption being used to divert public attention from what he described as the real issue.
He accused Adeyemi of exploiting public sentiment to shield himself from accountability.
Ajayi described Adeyemi as “an irredeemable con artist” and alleged that the suspect was attempting to implicate the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, in order to distract from the alleged criminal enterprise.
“The Chief of Staff is simply his last straw,” Ajayi stated.
The presidential aide said while many commentators had blamed systemic failure for allowing the alleged fake agency to operate, the same government system eventually exposed the irregularities.
He said officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, working with personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discovered inconsistencies linked to the purported agency and reported the matter to the appropriate authorities.
According to him, the discovery showed that existing institutional checks were still capable of detecting suspicious activities.
Ajayi, however, maintained that the alleged fraud could not have progressed as far as it did without support from persons within the affected institutions.
“What is not in doubt is that internal collaborators enabled Adeniyi to get this far,” he said.
He called on the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to uncover the alleged criminal network behind the scheme.
Ajayi said anyone found to have aided the operation of the fake agency should be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
The PFIPC controversy has continued to generate public debate following allegations that Adeyemi allegedly operated under the name of a non-existent presidential agency and presented himself as its head.
The presidency had earlier denied any official connection with the purported agency, while insisting that the matter was already before security and law enforcement authorities.
Ajayi’s latest comments add a fresh dimension to the controversy, suggesting that investigators should focus not only on the alleged promoter of the fake agency but also on possible government insiders who may have helped the operation gain access, appearance or credibility within official circles.
The allegations remain subject to investigation, and all persons mentioned are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
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