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A fictitious federal entity that was allocated 1.3bn naira (£700,000) in Nigeria’s 2026 budget has precipitated a political storm in Africa’s largest democracy in the run-up to a general election set for January.
The fake agency came to light last October when Femi Gbajabiamila, the president’s chief of staff, wrote to the police alleging that his signature, along with official seals and reference numbers, had been forged by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who was claiming to have been appointed by the presidency to head the presidential foreign intervention promotion council (PFIPC).
The case is due to be heard in a court in the capital, Abuja, on 27 July, more than six months after the police filed an eight-count charge including criminal forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence against Adeyemi and two others.
In a 1 July statement, the Nigerian presidency also claimed Adeyemi had met ambassadors without the knowledge of the foreign affairs ministry and misled the country’s accountant-general’s office into opening accounts for PFIPC with the central bank and 33 commercial banks.
The actual Nigerian investment promotion council had also reportedly raised an alarm about the similarities with the PFIPC.
Apart from being included in the budget, the PFIPC was also allocated office space in the federal secretariat in Abuja, a huge complex housing the headquarters of Nigeria’s civil service and many government ministries and agencies.
That has raised questions about how Adeyemi was able to gain access, with some critics speculating collusion with officials at the highest echelons of government.
“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,” the presidency statement said, defending Gbajabiamila.
Local reports say Adeyemi has claimed he was given the appointment letter by Gbajabiamila, who has denied knowing him or ever being in touch.
On Monday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed the independent corrupt practices and other related offences commission (ICPC) to open a probe. Days later, a Senate motion to independently investigate the presidential foreign intervention promotion council (PFIPC) did not pass.
Meanwhile the House of Representatives set up a committee to question Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the minister of budget and economic planning.
The presidency and supporters of the ruling party have pointed out that Adeyemi had previously misrepresented himself as the newly elected president-general of a UN youth agency called World Youth Organisation back in 2017.
His aides had said he was seeking permission from the UN security council to appoint staff across the world.
“The 967 nominees will work with my office across the globe,” one of his representatives was quoted as saying in Nigerian daily Punch. “This will enable the organisation to function effectively and bring coordination across the world.”
It later turned out that the WYO was not affiliated with or part of the UN.
Critics of the Tinubu administration have pointed to the controversial record of key government officials mentioned in the scandal.
In 2007, the supreme court of the US state of Georgia handed Gbajabiamila a three-year suspension from practising law in Atlanta after he failed to pass on $25,000 awarded as an injury settlement to a client four years earlier.
Gbajabiamila paid back the money in 2006, and later admitted he violated professional conduct rules, but blamed the incident on a paralegal who “closed the files as per my instruction, but unfortunately never paid the woman”.
Bagudu spent six months in a federal prison in Houston in 2003. According to the US Department of Justice, he was arrested for being an alleged accomplice to former dictator Sani Abacha who “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions of dollars from the government of Nigeria” amounting to more than $282m in one instance.
Bagudu reportedly agreed to return $163m to Nigerian authorities, who in turn dropped all cases against him, leading to his release without admission of wrongdoing.
The latest scandal has piled pressure on Tinubu, 74, ahead of January’s election, thrusting endemic corruption in Africa’s largest economy back into the spotlight.
Former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, who is due to challenge Tinubu’s re-election bid in January, called on his rival to establish an independent commission of inquiry comprising neutral parties such as civil society leaders, opposition parties and the Nigerian Bar Association, to establish whether Adeyemi acted alone.
“Nigerians deserve the whole truth, not carefully scripted press statements,” his spokesperson Phrank Shuaibu said earlier this month, adding: “We therefore demand a truly independent investigation that follows the evidence wherever it leads. No sacred cows. No political protection. No selective justice.”
