The unbelievable scandal involving Adeyemi Adeniyi Mathew

Just when you thought that you had heard the most bizarre story of corruption, abuse of office and decadence in Nigeria, a stranger and more ridiculous version would emerge, sending us into a dizzy spell for days. So far, nothing has prepared Nigerians for the shock that has trailed the story of a conman named Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi Mathew and his operations within the presidency. Its strangeness, scope of depravity and huge amounts involved are enough to bring down a government in saner societies.

According to a press statement issued by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, Wednesday night, the federal government has issued a note of warning to all federal agencies and the general public about a fraudulent character known as Adeyemi Adeniyi Matthew, who has been parading himself as the director-general of a fictitious federal agency known as Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC). Onanuga claimed that it was actually the chief of staff to the president, Femi Gbajabiamila, who ‘’first blew the whistle on the existence of the illegal agency, following complaints from officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) that another government agency appeared to be functioning at cross-purposes with it’’. But Nigerians are asking questions that cast doubts on the official narrative.

According to Onanuga, the chief of staff, had in a letter dated October 17 asked the DSS and the Police to probe the activities of ‘fraudsters and imposters’ forging appointment letters purportedly from his office. The fake documents, bearing falsified signatures, reference/folio numbers, and seals, have been used to claim leadership appointments to non-existent entities, with particular reference to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council. The fake agency has even secured office accommodation at Phase 111, 2nd Floor, the Federal Secretariat, with Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew as director-general. In addition, Prince Mathew has not only been passing himself off as a legitimate government official, but he has also hosted meetings with both foreigners and Nigerians, and even gone as far as requesting a note verbale from the ministry of foreign affairs to the US embassy to facilitate visas for some of their staff.

“The above development not only constitutes a serious criminal act but also undermines the integrity of the presidency and the credibility of official government communication. I therefore urge you to initiate a thorough investigation to identify and apprehend those involved and also to uncover the network facilitating the forgery,” the Chief of Staff wrote in his petition to the security agencies. 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.

In a letter dated 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. 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 had 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.

On November 5, 2025, the chief of staff responded to the OSGF, again flatly denying Adeniyi Adeyemi and his spurious agency. “Prince Adeniyi Matthew, director-general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, is unknown to any office, nor do we have any dealings with the said council.”

The Chief of Staff wrote: “My attention was drawn to a letter of this purported application, which is fake, and my office has instructed the police and other relevant security agencies to carry out investigations on the person and the entity he claims to represent.”

The police made the first move by responding to the chief of staff’s letter dated 17 October and began their investigation. On 27 October, Adeyemi was arrested in Abuja at the secretariat office where he operated his elaborate scam.

The police searched the office and home of Adeyemi in Suleja, recovering vital documents and exhibits. In Adeyemi’s statement to the police, he claimed that one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola assisted him in procuring the fake appointment letter. Following his claim, the police went after the said Tanimola. The police found that Tanimola died in a fire incident at Kachi Hotel in Abuja on 22 October, five days before Adeyemi’s arrest. Tanimola’s body was seen by the police at the morgue, confirming the death.

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.

“The act of the suspect constitutes criminal forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence, thereby bringing the office of the Chief of Staff to the President and the Presidency to disrepute before the public and international community,” the police wrote in the report of the investigation conducted by the assistant commissioner, Kabir Mogaji. Based on their investigations, the police filed an eight-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against Adeyemi and two of his accomplices on November 27, 2025. He is due in court on July 27.

Adeyemi was on police bail when he recently claimed that the chief of staff had appointed him as DG of the fictitious agency. This claim contradicted his statement to the police in November last year. His new claim prompted the chief of staff, on June 8, to issue a disclaimer consistent with earlier advisories that the man, called Adeyemi, is an impostor.

The case of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew is a clear case of a con artist who appears to have built a web of false claims to deceive unsuspecting government officials and the public into playing by his scam book. He has a history of fraudulent misrepresentation. According to Onanuga, Adeyemi had, in November 2016, paraded himself as an ambassador and president-general of the World Youth Organisation (WYO), an affiliate of the United Nations (UN). He claimed to have been elected in New Delhi, India. The local media celebrated him until the UN denied the existence of such a body.

Onanuga’s press statement Wednesday night was a brilliant effort to protect the presidency and the chief of staff from the scandal, but many questions remained unanswered.

One, how was Adeyemi able to secure office accommodation at the Federal Secretariat and operate for that long, interacting and meeting with other federal agencies, if he did not have the support of some people in the presidency? Two, Adeyemi had also visited the chairman of the EFCC and other senior government officials, and even made a diplomatic request to the US government to facilitate visa applications for his staff. He also summoned ambassadors and received a foreign delegation from Thailand. Clearly, Adeyemi had the support and backing of some senior people in this government. Three, how was Adeyemi’s fictitious agency allocated N1.3 billion in the 2026 Budget? How did this escape the scrutiny of the relevant national assembly committee? Four, how was Adeyemi able to open many accounts with the CBN and several commercial banks in the name of the fictitious agency? Did the banks perform the required KYC (Know Your Customer) due diligence?

In his additional statement to the police, Adeyemi Mathew alleged that he was appointed by the chief of staff after he had paid a bribe of N400 million out of the agreed N600 million. In addition, the CoS also allegedly demanded half the N27.4 billion takeoff grant the fake agency was to receive. Adeyemi also told the police that a certain Tanimola Babatunde, who was the intermediary between him and Gbajabiamila, had died mysteriously in a hotel fire accident in October.

But the chief of staff has denied all the allegations, and announced himself the whistleblower in the case. In other words, the chief of staff is essentially saying that Adeyemi was only trying to implicate him. The truth will only come out after the police, DSS and even EFCC have conducted detailed and thorough investigations.

For now, Nigerians are wondering how a conman could have operated inside the heart of the presidency for that long without a trace.

•Written By Etim Etim