How Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew "Outsmarted" Nigeria's Presidency: Inside the Fake Agency Scandal Rocking Abuja

Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew

For over a year, a man calling himself Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew ran what Nigeria's Presidency now describes as an entirely fictitious government agency complete with a federal office, Central Bank accounts, diplomatic meetings, and hundreds of purported staff before the scheme unraveled into one of the most embarrassing governance scandals to hit Abuja this year.

The Fictitious Agency
Matthew presented himself as Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), also styled as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council an agency Nigeria's Presidency insists never legally existed. According to the Presidency, he secured office space at the Federal Secretariat Complex Phase III in Abuja, and operated there for well over a year, holding meetings with both foreign diplomats and Nigerian officials while presenting himself as a legitimate federal appointee.

Police investigators allege he forged a presidential appointment letter purportedly signed by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, complete with fabricated State House letterheads, seals and reference numbers designed to appear authentic. He reportedly went so far as to request a note verbale from Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate United States visas for members of his purported team, and convened a meeting with ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel in Asokoro without the ministry's knowledge.

The Financial Trail
Investigators say Matthew operated 34 bank accounts, nine of them opened in the names of fictitious agencies, including an outfit styled the FCT Investment Promotion Agency. Perhaps most striking: he allegedly succeeded in fraudulently opening a Central Bank of Nigeria account, deceiving the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation with forged government documents though the Presidency maintains no actual government funds were ever transferred into it. A senior advocate has separately questioned how roughly ₦24 billion came to be budgeted for what the government calls a non-existent agency.
Who Blew the Whistle
The scheme began to collapse after officials at the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council complained that a rival agency appeared to be operating at cross-purposes with them. Gbajabiamila's office petitioned the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police on October 17, 2025, describing the operation as the work of "fraudsters and imposters." Police arrested Matthew on October 27, 2025, and he was formally charged alongside two still-at-large accomplices identified only as Femi and Anu with an eight-count indictment covering conspiracy, forgery, and impersonation. The case is set for hearing on July 27.

Matthew Fights Back
Rather than fade quietly, Matthew has gone on the offensive. Out on bail, he has accused Gbajabiamila himself of soliciting bribes claiming the Chief of Staff demanded 48% of a proposed ₦27.4 billion "take-off grant" for the agency, and received ₦400 million through a proxy with a further ₦200 million still outstanding. He has called for an independent presidential panel to investigate the Central Bank accounts, examine the suspicious death of an alleged intermediary, Babatunde Tanimola, in a fire days before his arrest, and probe what he describes as attempted assassinations against him, including an incident on the Abuja–Kaduna Expressway. Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has taken up his defence.

A Presidency on the Back Foot
The Presidency, through Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga, has firmly disowned Matthew and the council, tracing the paper trail of denials from the Chief of Staff's office through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. But commentators have noted the official account raises as many questions as it answers: how a self-described fraudster with a history of impersonation he once falsely claimed to be President-General of a fictitious UN-affiliated youth body in 2016 could operate undetected from a federal building, open an account with the apex bank, and meet foreign ambassadors, all without triggering institutional alarm bells until a rival agency complained.

Whether the case proves a story of a single audacious con artist or something involving deeper official complicity remains for the courts and likely an independent inquiry to determine.

Mustapha Bature Sallama.
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal investigation and Intelligence Analysis.
International Conflict Management and Peace Building.USIP
[email protected]
+233-555-275-880

Sources
Vanguard News, "Fake agency DG fraudulently opened CBN account – Presidency," July 2026

The Guardian Nigeria, "Scandal: Presidency denies appointing Adeyemi, alleges forgery," July 2026

allAfrica.com, "Nigeria: Presidency Disowns Adeniyi Matthew Who Runs 'Fictitious Govt Agency,'" July 2, 2026

Sahara Reporters, "Falana To Defend Man Who Accused Femi Gbajabiamila Of N400Million Bribery," July 2026

State House, Abuja official statement, "Re: The Matter of Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew..."

TG News, "Police Arraign Adeyemi for Allegedly Forging Presidential Appointment"