The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has recommended the prosecution of Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the man behind the fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, after finding that neither he nor the organisation had any legal backing from the Federal Government.
ICPC chairman Musa Adamu Aliyu presented an interim report on the investigation to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and later briefed journalists. The report came exactly 30 days after Tinubu ordered the anti-corruption agency to investigate the fake council, also known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
Aliyu said investigators found that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government or any authorised institution, and that the council was never established by law, executive order or any valid government instrument. He said the appointment letter Adeyemi presented was forged, along with other documents used to run the scheme, and that the gazette used to legitimise the organisation had also been forged and never went through the required legal process for government publications.
The ICPC chairman said Adeyemi unlawfully took over the identity and office of the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council, allegedly breaking into its premises and using it as the fake organisation’s base of operations. Investigators also documented widespread impersonation and false representation carried out in the council’s name.
Investigators Uncovered Two Additional Fake Agencies
Aliyu disclosed that the probe also uncovered two more fictitious agencies allegedly created by the same promoter, the Foreign Capital and Wealth Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency/Public-Private Partnership. He said forged legislative instruments styled as enabling Acts were used to set up both agencies and open commercial bank accounts for their operations.
The ICPC said procedural and administrative lapses across several ministries, departments and agencies created the openings Adeyemi allegedly exploited. Aliyu named the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Budget Office of the Federation, and the National Information Technology Development Agency as institutions where the weaknesses were found. He stressed that the findings did not point to official complicity but showed internal processes needing urgent reform.
Asked about allegations involving roughly ₦400 million linked to the case, Aliyu declined to comment, saying the matter forms part of the ongoing criminal investigation and would be addressed in court. He said the Commission would recommend measures to tighten verification procedures and improve coordination across government institutions, while it prepares to file criminal charges against Adeyemi.
FRSC Faces Questions Over Government Plates Issued to the Fake Council
Separately, the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the matter questioned the Federal Road Safety Corps over its decision to issue official Federal Government vehicle number plates to the fake council based on documents listing President Tinubu and other senior officials as board members.
FRSC Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed confirmed to the committee, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, that the document was part of the application the organisation submitted. Gagdi said the contents of the document should have raised immediate suspicion during the Corps’ verification process.
State House Denies Requesting a Budget Code for the Fake Council
The State House has denied writing to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to request a budget code for the council, describing the documents linking it to the body as forged.
State House Director of Administration AbdulKadir Idris, representing Permanent Secretary Temitope Peter Fashedemi, told the committee that neither the Permanent Secretary nor any Presidency official made such a request. He said the State House had no knowledge of the council until the matter surfaced in the media and it was invited by the Nigeria Police Force’s National Cybercrime Centre.
