By Cross Udo, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to launch a full-scale investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) saga.
He directed the anti-graft agency to unravel the circumstances surrounding the operations of the alleged fictitious body and submit its findings within 30 days.
The presidential directive marks the strongest official response yet to a scandal that has raised troubling questions over alleged forged appointment letters, claims of fraudulent access to government institutions, and reports that a body now described by the Presidency as non-existent appeared in the 2026 federal budget with billions of naira in allocations.
Announcing the decision on Tuesday, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the President was determined to protect the integrity of the Presidency and ensure that all persons involved in the alleged scheme are brought to justice.
According to the statement, the PFIPC was never created by the Federal Government and has no legal foundation, presidential approval, executive instrument or statutory backing.
The Presidency specifically identified one Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who allegedly presented himself as Director-General of the council and claimed to be a presidential appointee.
The ICPC investigation will cover allegations of forged appointment letters, counterfeit government documents, impersonation of public officials, and the alleged use of a false presidential identity to obtain official recognition, diplomatic support and visa facilitation.
The anti-corruption agency will also investigate reports that multiple bank accounts were opened in the names of purported government agencies using allegedly forged documents.
The Presidency said the probe would extend beyond the principal suspect to include collaborators and facilitators who may have helped create the impression that the body enjoyed official government backing.
Investigators are expected to examine how the alleged organisation secured access to government institutions, whether public officers aided its activities, and whether any financial institutions or intermediaries participated in the scheme’s operation.
The controversy escalated in recent weeks after claims emerged that an entity described as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council was allocated more than ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, despite the Presidency insisting that no such agency exists.
The matter later snowballed into a political storm after Adeyemi accused the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, of demanding a share of an alleged take-off grant worth billions of naira and of receiving money through proxies to facilitate appointments linked to the purported council.
Gbajabiamila has denied the allegations and threatened to file a ₦10 billion defamation suit against Adeyemi, describing the claims as false, malicious, and politically motivated.
The scandal has also triggered calls for broader investigations into how the alleged body operated within official circles, reportedly interacted with government agencies, maintained dozens of bank accounts and sought diplomatic recognition without raising immediate red flags within the system.
President Tinubu has now directed the ICPC to identify any weaknesses in government procedures that may have been exploited and recommend urgent safeguards to prevent a recurrence.
The President further ordered all ministries, departments and agencies to cooperate fully with investigators and provide all relevant records and information required for the probe.
“The integrity of the Presidency and the institutions of the Federal Government must be protected against impersonation, forgery, abuse of official identity and the exploitation of weaknesses in the public service,” the President said.
Tinubu also directed that all individuals found culpable, irrespective of status or affiliation, should face the full weight of the law.
The outcome of the investigation is expected to determine whether the controversy was the handiwork of a sophisticated impersonation network, an institutional failure within the public service, or a broader fraud scheme involving insiders within government establishments.
