Fresh Crackdown: Presidency Directs DSS, EFCC To Investigate PFIPC Scandal

The Presidency has called on security and anti-corruption agencies to identify, investigate, and prosecute any government officials who may have collaborated with Prince Matthew Adeniyi Adeyemi in the alleged operation of two fictitious federal government agencies.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Adeyemi is accused of establishing the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) using documents allegedly forged to appear as official presidential authorisations.

In a statement posted on his verified X account, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said investigators should not limit their focus to Adeyemi alone but also uncover the alleged network of insiders who may have facilitated the scheme.

Ajayi urged the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate officials within relevant government institutions who may have aided the alleged activities.

According to him, public discussions surrounding the case have largely overlooked the role government institutions played in uncovering the alleged fraud.

He explained that officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), working alongside personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, detected irregularities in Adeyemi’s operations and reported the matter to the appropriate authorities.

“Contrary to the impression that the system failed, it was government institutions themselves that identified the irregularities and took administrative steps to address them,” Ajayi stated.

However, he maintained that the suspect could not have operated for an extended period without assistance from individuals within the system.

“What is beyond dispute is that internal collaborators enabled Adeyemi to get this far. It is now the responsibility of the DSS, the Police, and the EFCC to uncover that network. Anyone found to have participated in the scheme should be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.

The Presidency had earlier distanced itself from both the PFIPC and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, insisting that neither organisation exists as an official agency of the Federal Government.

It also reaffirmed that the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, neither authorised Adeyemi’s activities nor had any connection with the alleged operation.

Ajayi accused Adeyemi of attempting to drag Gbajabiamila into the controversy in an effort to divert attention from the allegations against him.

According to the presidential aide, corruption allegations are often used to shift public attention away from the central issues under investigation.

He described Adeyemi as “an irredeemable con artist,” alleging that his claims against the Chief of Staff represented a last-ditch effort to evade criminal responsibility.

The Presidency maintained that the matter should be viewed as an alleged fraud detected through internal government mechanisms rather than evidence of complicity at the highest levels of government.