The Presidency has directed the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Nigeria Police Force to identify and apprehend internal collaborators within government institutions who allegedly aided a major fraudulent operation. The suspects are accused of assisting Prince Matthew Adeniyi in running a fraudulent presidential agency and launching a smear campaign against the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, stated via social media that Adeniyi is a high-level fraudster attempting to avoid criminal accountability. According to Ajayi, the suspect exploited public sensitivities surrounding corruption to falsely implicate the Chief of Staff and obscure a multi-billion-naira criminal enterprise.
Investigators are currently mapping out the network that enabled the suspect to forge presidential appointment letters, operate 34 bank accounts under false government names, open a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account, and host foreign diplomats. Adeniyi allegedly carried out these activities while falsely posing as the director-general of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council. The Presidency emphasized that the criminal network within the affected state institutions must be completely dismantled and all accomplices prosecuted.
Addressing public concerns, the media aide noted that while critics have focused on the systemic vulnerabilities that allowed the scheme to develop, the administration's internal checks successfully detected the fraud. The anomaly was initially flagged by officials from the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who then alerted the appropriate authorities.
The development follows a public disclaimer issued by the Chief of Staff on June 11, 2026, warning financial institutions, foreign missions, and multilateral organizations that the council was entirely fictitious. Additionally, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed that Adeniyi was arraigned on eight criminal counts at the Federal High Court in late November 2025. Onanuga revealed that the suspect opened the CBN account by deceiving the Office of the Accountant-General, and noted that a key witness linked to the forged appointment letter died in a hotel fire shortly before Adeniyi's arrest in October 2025.
In response to the presidency's statements, human rights attorney Femi Falana, SAN, challenged the executive branch's authority to clear any public official in the matter. Falana has called for an independent probe by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) into both the Chief of Staff and the primary suspect. The senior advocate also demanded a formal explanation regarding how 24 billion naira was purportedly allocated to the fake agency and how it successfully bypassed protocols to open a central bank account.
Adeniyi is scheduled to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 27, 2026, alongside two accomplices who currently remain at large.