File: President Bola Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday received the interim report of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s investigation into the fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, with the anti-graft agency recommending the immediate prosecution of Mr Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew.

Briefing State House correspondents after presenting the report to the President at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, ICPC Chairman Musa Adamu, SAN, said the investigation had conclusively established that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government.

He added that the PFIPC, also referred to in some documents as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, was never created by any law, Executive Order or valid government instrument.

Adamu said, “The appointment letter presented by the suspect, along with other supporting documents, was completely forged and did not originate from the Presidency.”

The ICPC chairman said investigators had also uncovered two additional fictitious agencies allegedly established by Adeyemi using forged legislative instruments: the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency/Public-Private Partnership, which the suspect used to open bank accounts and carry out unauthorised activities.

Adamu said Adeyemi had unlawfully taken over the office of the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council after gaining unauthorised access to the facility and had used the location to project legitimacy for his fake agency to visitors, government officials and foreign diplomats.

The ICPC chairman explained, “No Federal Government funds were approved or disbursed to the fake agency, and no security breach was found within the Presidency or the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

He said, however, that the investigation had identified institutional weaknesses that allowed Adeyemi to operate for an extended period without detection.

“The investigation identified weaknesses in verification processes, inter-agency coordination and oversight across several Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Budget Office and the National Information Technology Development Agency,” Adamu said, adding that these lapses, compounded by negligence on the part of some public officers, enabled the suspect to operate unchecked.

The ICPC chief said that, based on the findings, the commission had made three recommendations.

They include the prosecution of Adeyemi Matthew, administrative sanctions against public officers whose acts of omission facilitated the operation of the fake agency, and institutional reforms to strengthen internal controls across the affected MDAs.

He noted that the report submitted to the President was an interim one, with criminal investigations continuing to uncover further evidence and identify any collaborators before formal charges are filed in court.

The report follows President Tinubu’s directive of July 7, 2026, ordering the ICPC to conduct a comprehensive 30-day investigation into the PFIPC scandal after weeks of public controversy involving allegations linking the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, to Adeyemi’s claims of a forged appointment.

Gbajabiamila appeared before the ICPC on July 20 to volunteer information as part of the investigation and has since filed a N15bn defamation suit against Adeyemi over the allegations.

Adeyemi is already facing an eight-count criminal charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja bordering on conspiracy, forgery and impersonation, filed by the police in November 2025.

He was rearrested in July after breaching his bail conditions and failing to appear for arraignment, and is expected to appear before the Federal High Court again later this month.

The House of Representatives also launched a separate probe into how the fictitious agency secured a N1.3bn allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.