*Accuser misled CBN, says Presidency
The Presidency has cleared Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, of the bribery allegations levelled against him by an acclaimed Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council/Presidential Economic Advisory Council, one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi.
Adeyemi had accused Gbajabiamila of demanding N27,395,510,136 take-off grant of the agency, an allegation the former Speaker has vehemently denied.
Adeyemi also alleged that Gbajabiamila collected N400 million by proxy to secure him appointment as the head of the agency, with a balance of N200 million.
He had claimed that he fell out with the Chief of Staff over the balance, urging the President to set up an independent investigative panel to, among others, compel the Chief of Staff to produce all the official documents he has signed since assumption of office for forensic analysis, review budgetary references and institutional records, investigate alleged assassination attempts on his life and compel Gbajabiamila to step aside pending the outcome of the probe.
He also demanded that the panel should include credible civil society organisations and international organisations and make its findings public.
But in a statement on Wednesday, Bayo Onanuga, Presidential spokesman, accused Adeyemi of peddling lies.
“We are aware of the public interest in the matter of a man called Adeyemi Adeniyi Matthew, who has been parading himself as the director-general of a fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council cum Presidential Economic Advisory Council.”
“The office of the Chief of Staff to the President first blew the whistle on the existence of the illegal agency, following complaints from officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council that another government agency appeared to be functioning at cross-purposes with it.
“The Chief of Staff, on October 17, in a letter, asked the DSS and the Police to probe the activities of ‘fraudsters and imposters’ forging appointment letters purportedly from his office.
“The letter to the security agencies was accompanied by a copy of the forged appointment letter, a copy of the request for a note verbal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and pictures of engagements obtained from the illegal agency’s website.
“Around the time the Chief of Staff lodged the complaint with the security agencies, the existence of the fake agency had raised concerns within the Foreign Affairs Ministry.”
Onanuga added that in a letter on October 15, 2025, the Foreign Affairs Ministry wrote to the office of the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff to the President, requesting clarification on the status of Adeyemi’s agency.
He said the letter, which Ambassador Anderson Madubuike signed, followed Adeyemi’s October 10 meeting with ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments in Asokoro, without recourse to the ministry.
“On October 20, the Office of the National Security Adviser wrote to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on the request of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.”
“On 29 October, the OSGF wrote to the Chief of Staff requesting clarification. “This has become expedient owing to several requests from governmental and non-governmental bodies seeking to ascertain the status of the appointment under consideration”
“Two days earlier, the Chief of Staff sent his own clear rebuttal to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, stating that he had never issued an appointment letter to Adeyemi as director general of the fake presidential foreign investment promotion council.
“The Chief of Staff could not have issued a letter of appointment to a non-existent agency.
“Moreover, the Chief of Staff does not make appointments or write letters, as these are the exclusive preserve of the Office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation.”
Onanuga added, “The police were able to establish that the agency Adeyemi purportedly headed was fictitious, that he forged his appointment letter and the documents recovered in his office and home, that he falsely paraded himself as a government appointee, and that he falsely solicited a note verbal from the Foreign Affairs Ministry to enable him and his staff to obtain US visas.
“The police also found that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, with nine opened in the names of his fictitious agencies, known as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Public Private Partnership (FIPA-APP), and the FCT Investment Promotion Act.
“The Police found that Adeyemi, using the fake documents he created, fraudulently opened a CBN account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. According to the police, no government money has been transferred into the account.”
