President Bola Tinubu has ordered Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the activities of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), as mounting questions over the body’s existence and its appearance in the 2026 federal budget continue to unsettle the presidency.
In a directive issued on Tuesday, Tinubu instructed the anti-corruption agency to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the alleged activities of the council and submit its findings within 30 days.
The order, announced by the president’s special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, follows weeks of political pressure over how an organisation the presidency insists was never lawfully established appeared to operate from government premises, engage with public institutions and secure a ₦1.3bn allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
“The directive follows the discovery of the fictitious council, which the Presidency said was never established by the Federal Government and has no basis in the law, presidential instrument, executive approval or other lawful act of government,” Onanuga said in a statement.
The president instructed the ICPC to investigate appointment letters and official government documents allegedly forged by Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew, who presented himself as director general of the council and claimed to have been appointed by the president.
According to the presidency, investigators are also expected to examine allegations that Adeyemi used the purported appointment to obtain official recognition, diplomatic support and visa facilitation, as well as to open bank accounts in the names of government agencies using allegedly falsified documents.
Tinubu further directed the commission to determine how what the presidency describes as a fictitious organisation acquired the appearance of official legitimacy.
The investigation will examine the origin and use of the disputed documents, any attempts to obtain official recognition or diplomatic assistance, the opening and operation of related bank accounts, the movement of funds and the possible involvement of public officials, private individuals, financial institutions or intermediaries.
The president also instructed investigators to identify weaknesses in government procedures that may have enabled the alleged scheme and recommend reforms to prevent similar incidents.
All federal ministries, departments and agencies have been directed to cooperate fully with the investigation.
“The integrity of the Presidency and the institutions of the Federal Government must be protected against impersonation, forgery, abuse of official identity and the exploitation of weaknesses in the public service,” Tinubu said, adding that anyone found culpable should face the full force of the law.
The directive comes amid growing calls from opposition politicians, civil society organisations and senior lawyers for an independent inquiry into how the council was allegedly able to operate from the Federal Secretariat, engage with diplomatic missions, open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria and secure a budget allocation despite lacking any known legal basis.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, who represents Adeyemi, has questioned how the body appeared in the national budget if it was never lawfully created. He has also called for investigators to examine the roles of both his client and the president’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The presidency has repeatedly denied any connection between Gbajabiamila and the alleged scheme.
Speaking earlier this week, Onanuga said police forensic experts had concluded that the chief of staff’s signature on the disputed appointment letter had been forged.
“The police investigated this man. They carried out forensic analysis of the Chief of Staff’s signature before filing charges and concluded that the signature was forged. They also found that all the documents he was parading were fake,” Onanuga said.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police released Adeyemi’s father after detaining and questioning him over his son’s whereabouts.
A family neighbour, speaking anonymously, said officers questioned the elderly man extensively and examined contacts stored on his mobile phone before releasing him.
The arrest drew criticism from Falana, who described it as unlawful and argued that law enforcement agencies should not intimidate or harass relatives of criminal suspects.
The senior advocate said Adeyemi had appeared before the court on four previous occasions and intended to attend the next hearing scheduled for 27 July, rejecting suggestions that he was evading justice.
Police began investigating the case in October 2025 over allegations including forgery, impersonation and the use of counterfeit government documents. Prosecutors have since filed criminal charges against Adeyemi.
The controversy also reached the Senate on Tuesday, where lawmakers declined to intervene, arguing that the matter was already before the courts and that no formal petition had been submitted to the National Assembly.
Speaking after plenary, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, acknowledged that the PFIPC appears as a budget line in the 2026 Appropriation Act but said the legislature had no basis to investigate without a formal complaint.
He also rejected suggestions that parliament had created the agency or inserted the disputed allocation, arguing that the controversy lay within the executive branch.
“The allegations and counter-allegations over a fake agency and its director general are all within the executive,” Adaramodu said. “If a petition is submitted to the Senate by any of the parties or any concerned Nigerian, it will be considered through the appropriate legislative process.”
The dispute has become increasingly politically sensitive after the discovery that the PFIPC received a ₦1.3bn allocation in the 2026 budget despite repeated assertions by the presidency that no such agency legally exists.
