I Paid N400m For PFIPC Creation Because I Was Desperate To Serve— ‘Fake’ Agency DG
The embattled director general of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, has stated that he paid the alleged sum of N400 million due to his passion to serve and attract foreign investors to Nigeria.
Matthew spoke in a video call on Wednesday with social media critic, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
He also claimed that he was not aware of his agency’s budget insertion and defence in the national budget approved by the National Assembly and assented to by the President.
“I established that amount (rumoured N400 million) for the agency’s office out of passion for the country. I wanted to bring in foreign investors to Nigeria so that I can write my name in gold. I am just desperate to serve,” he said.
“That’s the reason I paid the money. I just want to do my part for the country. That agency was established to bring in foreign investments to Nigeria and make Nigeria a preferred destination for foreign investors.
“I walk around the inter-ministerial agencies and partner with the MDAs and EFCC to make Nigeria a preferred world destination for investments. So, it’s not about personal interest. Before this whole brouhaha, we were expecting the world to be in Nigeria through our forthcoming global summit.”
Dismissing the Presidency’s stance of being alien to the agency, Matthew said, “This whole thing is confusing especially when the Presidency said that the agency does not exist. How come? The agency that found its way into the national budget. I didn’t prepare any budget. In fact, I was in detention for 23 days when the budget for the Presidential Foreign Council was prepared and defended in the National Assembly between October and November.
“The former Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had invited me to explain how I came about the agency from the Chief of Staff to the President. I gave him the name and number of the person that facilitated the appointment letter for me. I was thereafter detained.
“How come the budget that nobody defended still found its way into the national budget? By the time I came out on November 19, 2025, I was charged to court and they said the same office space had been reallocated to another government official. So I’ve not been going to the office since that October 27.”
While fielding questions on Gbajabiamila petitioning him, the embattled DG stressed that he did not meet with the Chief of Staff to discuss the petition but admitted speaking with him on the phone through his late friend, Dolapo Tanimola.
He argued that he has all the documents backing the establishment of the agency and is willing to submit them to the relevant authorities, stressing that he is ready to turn himself in for further clarification.
“Any moment from now, I will go to the police and DSS to submit every document that I have to support the investigation. My friend (Tanimola), who paid the money for the establishment of the agency, is now dead in a fire accident in a hotel in Utako, Abuja.”
His latest comment comes hours after President Bola Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate all activities linked to the purported council and submit its comprehensive report within 30 days.
In a statement issued by the pesident's special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency maintained that the PFIPC was never established by the Federal Government and had no legal backing through any law, presidential instrument or executive approval.
The president also directed the commission to investigate the alleged forgery of appointment letters and other official documents, the alleged use of false claims of presidential appointments to obtain official recognition and diplomatic support, including visa facilitation, as well as the opening of multiple bank accounts in the names of purported government agencies using allegedly forged documents.
Tinubu further ordered investigators to identify and probe any public officials, private individuals, financial institutions or intermediaries who may have aided the alleged scheme, while recommending measures to close procedural loopholes that may have enabled the operation.
The controversy erupted on July 1 after the Presidency publicly disowned the PFIPC, describing it as a fictitious organisation and accusing Adeyemi of falsely presenting himself as its Director-General with forged State House documents.