By Priye Briggs
Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled Director General of the disputed Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, has given his account of why he set up the “non-existent” body.
In a Wednesday video call with social media critic Martins Otse, aka VeryDarkMan, Adeyemi said the council was driven by his desire to improve Nigeria’s global image, attract foreign investors, and promote President Bola Tinubu’s administration, not by personal interests.
He also said he had no knowledge of how the agency’s budget was included and defended in the national budget that was passed by the National Assembly and signed by the President.
“I established that amount (rumoured N400 million) for the agency’s office out of passion for the country. I wanted to bring in foreign investors to Nigeria so that I can write my name in gold. I am just desperate to serve,” Adeyemi stated.
“That’s the reason I paid the money. I just want to do my part for the country. That agency was established to bring in foreign investments to Nigeria and make Nigeria a preferred destination for foreign investors.
“I walk around the inter-ministerial agencies and partner with the MDAs and EFCC to make Nigeria a preferred world destination for investments. So, it’s not about personal interest. Before this whole brouhaha, we were expecting the world to be in Nigeria through our forthcoming global summit.”
Addressing the Presidency’s denial of the council, he said: “This whole thing is confusing especially when the Presidency said that the agency does not exist. How come? The agency that found its way into the national budget. I didn’t prepare any budget. In fact, I was in detention for 23 days when the budget for the Presidential Foreign Council was prepared and defended in the National Assembly between October and November.”
He claimed former IGP Kayode Egbetokun invited him to explain how he got the agency from the Chief of Staff’s office.
“The former Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had invited me to explain how I came about the agency from the Chief of Staff to the President. I gave him the name and number of the person that facilitated the appointment letter for me. I was thereafter detained.”
Adeyemi questioned how a budget he did not defend ended up in the Appropriation Act.
“How come the budget that nobody defended still found its way into the national budget? By the time I came out on November 19, 2025, I was charged to court, and they said the same office space had been reallocated to another government official. So, I’ve not been going to the office since that October 27.”
On reports that Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila petitioned against him, Adeyemi said he never met Gbajabiamila over the matter, but admitted speaking with him on phone through his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola.
He insisted he has all documents supporting the council’s establishment and is ready to hand them over.
“Any moment from now, I will go to the police and DSS to submit every document that I have to support the investigation. My friend (Tanimola), who paid the money for the establishment of the agency, is now dead in a fire incident in a hotel in Utako, Abuja.”
How the controversy started
PFIPC drew national attention after it was listed as a beneficiary in the 2026 Appropriation Act, even though the Presidency said no such agency exists under the Federal Government.
Questions arose over how an unrecognised body secured an allocation in the federal budget.
The Presidency later distanced itself from the council, stating that Tinubu neither approved its creation nor appointed anyone to lead it.
Following this development, Gbajabiamila petitioned security agencies over alleged impersonation of the Presidency and the use of documents linked to the agency. This triggered investigations by the Nigeria Police and other agencies.
Adeyemi was arrested, detained, and later arraigned on charges including forgery and impersonation. He has continued to maintain his innocence, saying all documents in his possession were legitimately obtained.
President Tinubu has since directed the ICPC to probe how PFIPC was inserted into the 2026 budget. He also ordered that anyone found culpable in the insertion be identified and prosecuted, and that authorities investigate how the controversial allocation came about.