By Danjuma Amodu
The Presidency has issued a public disclaimer disowning Adeyemi Adeniyi Matthew, who has been parading himself as the Director-General of a non-existent body known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
In a statement on Monday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President first alerted security agencies to the activities of the impostor in October 2025 following complaints from officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council.
According to the statement, the Chief of Staff, in a letter dated October 17, 2025, asked the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police to investigate individuals forging appointment letters purportedly issued from his office. The letter stated that fake documents bearing falsified signatures, reference numbers and seals were being used to claim leadership of the so-called council.
The Chief of Staff said the group, led by Adeyemi as “Director-General,” was operating from an office at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, and had been hosting meetings with Nigerians and foreigners. It added that the group had gone as far as requesting a note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States to facilitate visas for its staff.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff on October 15, 2025, seeking clarification after Adeyemi held a meeting with ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel in Asokoro without recourse to the ministry. The ministry described the act as a contravention of diplomatic rules.
The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation further sought clarification on October 29, 2025, citing several enquiries from government and non-governmental bodies. The Chief of Staff responded on November 5, 2025, stating that Adeyemi and the council were unknown to the Presidency and that no appointment was issued from his office. He noted that appointments are the exclusive responsibility of the OSGF.
The Police arrested Adeyemi on October 27, 2025, at his Secretariat office in Abuja. Searches of the office and his residence in Suleja yielded documents and other exhibits. In his statement to the police, Adeyemi alleged that one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola assisted him to procure the fake appointment letter. Police findings showed that Tanimola died in a fire incident at Kachi Hotel, Abuja, on October 22, 2025.
Investigations established that the agency was fictitious, that the appointment letter and other documents were forged, and that Adeyemi falsely presented himself as a government appointee and solicited diplomatic notes to enable himself and his staff to obtain US visas. The police also found that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, nine of which were opened in the names of fictitious entities including FCT Investment Promotion Agency and Public Private Partnership, FIPA-APP. He was also accused of using forged documents to open a CBN account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. No government funds were found to have been paid into the account.
The police, in a report signed by Assistant Commissioner Kabir Mogaji, said the actions constituted criminal forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence. Based on the investigation, an eight-count charge was filed against Adeyemi and two accomplices at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on November 27, 2025. The case is due for hearing on July 27.
The statement added that Adeyemi, who was on police bail, recently repeated the claim of being appointed DG by the Chief of Staff, prompting a fresh disclaimer on June 8. The Presidency described him as a con artist with a history of false presentation, citing a 2016 incident in which he paraded himself as an ambassador and President-General of the World Youth Organisation, a body later disowned by the United Nations.
The Presidency urged politicians and members of the public to disregard Adeyemi’s claims and to await the court’s judgment, noting that further comments at this stage would be sub judice.
