Mathew Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled Director-General of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, has denied ever meeting the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, in person.
Adeyemi made the denial during a recorded conversation with social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, from an undisclosed location.
His comments came days after Gbajabiamila’s lawyers threatened legal action over allegations linking the Chief of Staff to the controversial agency, which the Presidency has described as fictitious.
Adeyemi says contact was through late friend
During the interview, VeryDarkMan asked Adeyemi whether he had ever met Gbajabiamila one-on-one to discuss matters relating to the alleged agency.
Adeyemi replied that he had not.
He, however, claimed he had spoken on the phone with someone he believed to be Gbajabiamila about three times, adding that the calls were made through his late friend, Dolapo Tanimola.
When asked whether the calls were done by video to confirm the identity of the person on the other end, Adeyemi said they were not video calls.
VeryDarkMan then suggested that another person could have taken the phone and spoken to him. Adeyemi did not rule out that possibility.
He also agreed that the transactions linked to the matter were handled through his late friend.
Adeyemi refuses to confirm Gbajabiamila’s role
Asked whether Gbajabiamila could genuinely be unaware of the matter, Adeyemi said he could not say with certainty.
He said he would not accuse the Chief of Staff of lying, but he also could not confirm that Gbajabiamila was telling the truth.
According to him, that uncertainty was why he had called on President Bola Tinubu to order a full investigation into the scandal.
Adeyemi is facing trial over his alleged role in the controversial council. His case has been adjourned to July 14, 2026, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Gbajabiamila denies allegations
At a press briefing on June 25, 2026, Adeyemi had accused Gbajabiamila of demanding 48 percent of an alleged N27.4 billion take-off grant said to be linked to the council.
He also alleged that N400 million was connected to appointments tied to the agency.
Gbajabiamila, through his lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, denied the allegations and threatened a N10 billion defamation suit.
The legal team also denied that the Chief of Staff had any contact with Adeyemi, directly or through a third party.
Tinubu orders ICPC investigation
President Tinubu has directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the matter and submit its findings within 30 days.
The directive comes amid growing public interest in how an alleged fictitious agency became linked to claims of government funding, appointments and top-level political access.
Adeyemi told VeryDarkMan that he planned to surrender himself to either the police or the Department of State Services after the interview.
As of the time of the report, it was not clear whether he had done so.
For now, the case has moved beyond social media claims and political denials. With the ICPC now directed to investigate, the key question is whether the probe will establish who created the alleged agency, who authorised its activities and whether any public funds were involved.
