Nigerians deserve the whole truth, not carefully scripted press statements.
In Nigeria, a ghost agency conjured from forged signatures and fabricated appointments managed to claim over a billion naira from the national treasury and secure office space within the federal government's own headquarters — a deception so elaborate it has raised uncomfortable questions about who, beyond one man, made it possible. The scandal has emerged just months before a January general election, arriving at a moment when President Tinubu's administration can least afford to appear either corrupt or incompetent. As investigations multiply and opposition voices grow louder, Nigeria finds itself once again confronting the ancient tension between the machinery of governance and the human capacity to hollow it out from within.
- A man with a history of elaborate impersonation managed to embed a fictitious federal agency into Nigeria's 2026 national budget, complete with bank accounts, office space, and diplomatic meetings — all without apparent detection.
- The accused claims the president's own chief of staff handed him his appointment letter, a charge the chief of staff flatly denies, leaving a dangerous vacuum of accountability at the heart of the story.
- Key officials surrounding the scandal carry their own troubled histories — a chief of staff suspended from legal practice, a budget minister who once spent months in a U.S. federal prison — giving the opposition potent ammunition.
- A Senate motion for independent investigation failed to pass, while the presidency moved swiftly to frame the accused as a lone serial fraudster, signaling the administration's preference to contain rather than fully expose the affair.
- With January elections approaching and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar demanding an inquiry with 'no sacred cows,' the scandal has forced endemic corruption back to the center of Nigeria's political stage at the worst possible moment for the incumbent.
Nigeria is confronting a scandal of almost theatrical audacity: a federal agency that never existed was written into the national budget, granted office space inside the government's own secretariat in Abuja, and handed 1.3 billion naira — roughly £700,000 — in public funds. The fictitious body, styled the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, was operated by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who presented himself as its head and claimed a presidential appointment. He met with foreign ambassadors, deceived the accountant-general's office into opening bank accounts across 34 financial institutions, and drew the alarm of the legitimate Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, whose name his invention closely mimicked.
The fraud came to light last October when Femi Gbajabiamila, the president's chief of staff, reported to police that his signature, seals, and reference numbers had been forged. Eight charges — including criminal forgery, impersonation, and obtaining money by false pretense — were filed against Adeyemi and two others, with a court hearing set for July 27th. Adeyemi's defense is stark: he insists Gbajabiamila gave him the appointment letter personally. The presidency has pushed back hard, warning the public not to swallow his narrative, and pointing to his past — in 2017, he falsely claimed to lead a UN-affiliated global youth organisation and announced the appointment of nearly a thousand staff worldwide. The organisation had no UN connection whatsoever.
Yet the scandal has drawn uncomfortable scrutiny onto the officials surrounding it. Gbajabiamila was suspended from legal practice in Georgia in 2007 over an unremitted client settlement. Budget Minister Abubakar Bagudu spent six months in a U.S. federal prison in 2003, having been arrested as an alleged accomplice to the late dictator Sani Abacha; he secured his release by agreeing to return $163 million to Nigeria, admitting no wrongdoing. Critics argue these histories make the administration's insistence on a lone fraudster explanation harder to accept.
President Tinubu, 74 and facing a January re-election challenge, directed the anti-corruption commission to investigate on July 1st. A Senate motion for an independent inquiry failed. The House of Representatives opened its own committee to question Bagudu. Opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar has called for a truly independent commission — including civil society and the Nigerian Bar Association — demanding the evidence be followed wherever it leads, with no political protection for anyone. The scandal has returned corruption to the centre of Nigeria's electoral conversation at precisely the moment the government can least afford it.
Nigeria's government is grappling with an extraordinary scandal: a federal agency that never existed was written into the national budget and given office space in the heart of the capital. The fictitious body, called the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, received 1.3 billion naira—roughly £700,000—in the 2026 budget allocation. The discovery has ignited a political firestorm just months before a general election scheduled for January, threatening the credibility of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration and exposing deep questions about how such a scheme could have penetrated the machinery of Africa's largest economy.
The fraud surfaced last October when Femi Gbajabiamila, the president's chief of staff, reported to police that his signature, official seals, and reference numbers had been forged. The man behind the scheme was Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who had been presenting himself as the agency's head, claiming he had been appointed by the presidency itself. According to a statement released by the Nigerian presidency on July 1st, Adeyemi had done far more than simply forge documents. He had met with foreign ambassadors without informing the foreign affairs ministry. He had deceived the accountant-general's office into opening bank accounts for the fake agency across the central bank and 33 commercial banks. The actual Nigerian Investment Promotion Council—a legitimate body—had raised alarms about the striking similarities between its name and the fabricated one. Most troubling of all, Adeyemi had somehow gained access to office space within the federal secretariat in Abuja, the sprawling complex that houses Nigeria's civil service headquarters and numerous government ministries. That access alone has fueled speculation among critics that officials at the highest levels of government may have been complicit.
Adeyemi's defense has been blunt: he claims Gbajabiamila gave him the appointment letter directly. Gbajabiamila has flatly denied ever knowing him or communicating with him. The case is scheduled to be heard in Abuja on July 27th, more than nine months after police filed an eight-count charge against Adeyemi and two others, including criminal forgery, impersonation, and obtaining money by false pretense. The presidency has moved to defend its chief of staff, issuing a statement warning that "politicians and members of the public who are weaponising Adeyemi's claim against the chief of staff should refrain from swallowing his narrative hook, line and sinker."
Yet the scandal has exposed a troubling pattern. Adeyemi is not new to elaborate deception. In 2017, he misrepresented himself as the newly elected president-general of the World Youth Organisation, claiming it was affiliated with the United Nations. He told media outlets that he had secured permission from the UN Security Council to appoint staff across the globe. "The 967 nominees will work with my office across the globe," one of his representatives was quoted as saying. The organization turned out to have no UN affiliation whatsoever. The presidency has seized on this history to argue that Adeyemi is a serial fraudster operating independently, not a pawn of government insiders.
But critics of the Tinubu administration have pointed to the controversial records of key officials implicated in the scandal. Femi Gbajabiamila, the chief of staff, was suspended from practicing law in Georgia for three years in 2007 after failing to pass on a $25,000 injury settlement to a client for four years. He repaid the money in 2006 and admitted to violating professional conduct rules, though he blamed a paralegal for the lapse. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the minister of budget and economic planning, spent six months in a federal prison in Houston in 2003. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, he was arrested as an alleged accomplice to former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, who had embezzled, misappropriated, and extorted billions from the Nigerian government. Bagudu agreed to return $163 million to Nigerian authorities in exchange for the dropping of all charges against him, securing his release without any admission of wrongdoing.
The scandal has landed squarely on President Tinubu, 74, at a moment of maximum political vulnerability. On July 1st, he directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to open an investigation. Days later, a Senate motion to independently investigate the fake agency failed to pass. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, established a committee to question Bagudu about his role. Opposition figures have seized the moment. Atiku Abubakar, the former vice-president who will challenge Tinubu's re-election bid in January, has called for an independent commission of inquiry comprising civil society leaders, opposition parties, and members of the Nigerian Bar Association. His spokesperson, Phrank Shuaibu, issued a pointed statement: "Nigerians deserve the whole truth, not carefully scripted press statements. We therefore demand a truly independent investigation that follows the evidence wherever it leads. No sacred cows. No political protection. No selective justice." The scandal has thrust endemic corruption back into the center of Nigeria's electoral conversation, with the opposition demanding answers the government appears reluctant to fully provide.
Notable Quotes
Nigerians deserve the whole truth, not carefully scripted press statements. We therefore demand a truly independent investigation that follows the evidence wherever it leads. No sacred cows. No political protection. No selective justice.— Phrank Shuaibu, spokesperson for opposition leader Atiku Abubakar
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
How does a completely fake government agency make it into the national budget without anyone catching it?
That's the question that's keeping people awake in Abuja. The man behind it, Adeyemi, forged the chief of staff's signature and official seals. But he also got office space in the federal secretariat—the most secure government building in the capital. That's not something you do alone. Either he had help from inside, or the oversight was catastrophically broken.
And the chief of staff denies knowing him at all?
Completely. Gbajabiamila says he never appointed him, never met him, never communicated with him. But Adeyemi claims he has the appointment letter. It's a direct contradiction, and one of them is lying under oath.
What's Adeyemi's track record before this?
He's a serial impersonator. In 2017, he claimed to be the president-general of a UN youth organization that had no actual UN affiliation. He told people he'd gotten permission from the UN Security Council to hire 967 staff worldwide. It was all fabricated. So when the government says he's just a con artist acting alone, people wonder: how many times does someone have to pull off an elaborate fraud before you consider that maybe he had institutional help?
The officials involved have their own problems, don't they?
Yes. The chief of staff was suspended from practicing law in Georgia for mishandling a client's settlement. The budget minister spent six months in federal prison in Houston for allegedly helping a dictator steal billions. Neither has a clean record, which makes the public skeptical when they deny involvement in this scheme.
What does the opposition want?
A truly independent investigation. They're saying the government's internal probes and press statements aren't enough. They want civil society, opposition parties, and the bar association involved—people with no political stake in protecting anyone. They want the evidence followed wherever it leads.
And the timing—this is an election year?
January. The general election is in January. This scandal is poisoning the well for Tinubu's re-election campaign. It's put corruption back at the center of the conversation, and the opposition is using it to argue that the administration can't be trusted.