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Boss of fake government agency arrested in Nigeria after weeks on the run
The head of a bogus government agency set up in the Nigerian president's office has been arrested after weeks in hiding.
Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who called himself director general of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), was detained in the south-western state of Osun State.
His arrest followed a warrant issued on Tuesday by the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, after he failed to appear at a hearing to face charges of forgery and impersonation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17y7ykzgrgo
Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who called himself director general of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), was detained in the south-western state of Osun State.
His arrest followed a warrant issued on Tuesday by the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, after he failed to appear at a hearing to face charges of forgery and impersonation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17y7ykzgrgo
How a fake presidential council ended up with a budget of almost $1m in Nigeria
Career civil servants were assigned there and ran a website on the government's official ".gov.ng" domain. It even won approval to hire more than 300 staff, at a time when the government had frozen public-sector recruitment. The website has been taken down but its Instagram account, external is still working.
Its director general, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, met cabinet ministers, financial regulators, the head of Nigeria's anti-corruption agency and foreign diplomats. When the 2026 national budget was signed into law, the council was in it, with an allocation of 1.3bn naira ($950,000; £700,000).
...
Its apparent legitimacy, officials said, rested on a single forged document - an appointment letter claiming that President Bola Tinubu had made Adeyemi the council's director general. Investigators say the letter carried the forged signature of Femi Gbajabiamila, the president's chief of staff and most senior aide.
Adeyemi denies this.
He insists the council was lawfully set up in 2024 and that he was properly appointed. He has also accused senior officials of demanding bribes to secure his job and later trying to seize the council's funds. The presidency denies his claims.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c872v7wldjyo
Career civil servants were assigned there and ran a website on the government's official ".gov.ng" domain. It even won approval to hire more than 300 staff, at a time when the government had frozen public-sector recruitment. The website has been taken down but its Instagram account, external is still working.
Its director general, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, met cabinet ministers, financial regulators, the head of Nigeria's anti-corruption agency and foreign diplomats. When the 2026 national budget was signed into law, the council was in it, with an allocation of 1.3bn naira ($950,000; £700,000).
...
Its apparent legitimacy, officials said, rested on a single forged document - an appointment letter claiming that President Bola Tinubu had made Adeyemi the council's director general. Investigators say the letter carried the forged signature of Femi Gbajabiamila, the president's chief of staff and most senior aide.
Adeyemi denies this.
He insists the council was lawfully set up in 2024 and that he was properly appointed. He has also accused senior officials of demanding bribes to secure his job and later trying to seize the council's funds. The presidency denies his claims.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c872v7wldjyo