₦airaland Forum

A video of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the man at the centre of the alleged ₦1.3bn “ghost agency” scandal, has resurfaced online on Monday as the controversy surrounding the purported government agency continues to intensify.

The video, recorded during a press conference held in late June 2026, showed Adeyemi defending his claim to the leadership of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council while challenging the position of the Presidency and the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, led by Femi Gbajabiamila.

During the briefing, Adeyemi questioned how an agency described by the Presidency as non-existent could appear in official budget documents.

According to him, “the national budget does not emerge in isolation. It passes through multiple layers of technical drafting, executive coordination, ministerial inputs, Budget Office review, and finally legislative scrutiny by both chambers of the National Assembly.”

He argued that the inclusion of the agency in official budget documents raised questions about the integrity of the budget process.

“The question becomes unavoidable: At what point in this process did references to a non-existent agency allegedly enter the official record? And if they are indeed present in official documentation, what does that imply about the integrity of the process that produced and approved those documents?” he asked.

Adeyemi further claimed that the agency maintained several accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“The same acclaimed non-existent agency has a domiciliary account, a pounds sterling account and a Treasury Single Account, all domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria. Is it even possible to open an account with fictitious documents in a commercial bank in Nigeria today, let alone the Central Bank of Nigeria?” he said.

He also alleged that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s proposed ₦27.4bn take-off grant and referenced an alleged demand for ₦12.5bn.

𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐨𝐟 '𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞' 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐃𝐆 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐛𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬

A video of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the man at the centre of the alleged ₦1.3bn “ghost agency” scandal, has resurfaced online on Monday as the controversy… pic.twitter.com/HdcvGX3ti6

— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) July 6, 2026

The Presidency has, however, consistently denied the allegations.

The Office of the Chief of Staff has maintained that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council has no legal backing and was never established by the Federal Government.

According to the Presidency, Adeyemi forged official documents, including appointment letters bearing the names and signatures of senior government officials, to portray himself as the Director-General of the purported council.

Authorities also alleged that he operated from an office inside Phase III of the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja, where he hosted meetings with government officials, diplomats, foreign investors and members of the public while presenting himself as a senior government official.

The controversy deepened after it emerged that an entity listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council received more than ₦1.3bn in budgetary allocations, sparking widespread public scrutiny over how a body the Presidency now describes as fictitious appeared in the federal budget.

The reported allocation comprised about ₦803m for personnel, ₦200m for overhead and ₦300m for capital expenditure.

Adeyemi is facing an eight-count charge bordering on forgery, impersonation, false personation and operating a fictitious government agency before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The Presidency has maintained that the matter is before the court and urged the public to disregard his claims, while Adeyemi insists he is not an impostor and says the court will determine the dispute.

bigpicture001:
These are reasons Nigerians should occupy the streets of Abuja for days demanding the president resigns...

But no! They would mutter in their room corners and say it's not their business ND sell their land to travel an be disturbing South Africans who fight their own government for accountability...

Nigerians are not serious!!!!!

givedemwotowoto:
We’re talking about actual bribery and stealing of public funds here, not some misunderstanding and power struggle between government officials

This government is the worst in Nigeria’s history

bigpicture001:
These are reasons Nigerians should occupy the streets of Abuja for days demanding the president resigns...

But no! They would mutter in their room corners and say it's not their business ND sell their land to travel an be disturbing South Africans who fight their own government for accountability...

Nigerians are not serious!!!!!

lamentor78:
I think this Adeyemi guy is a fool, you have already alleged that Gbaja collected N400, you post the receipt of the transaction abi na N400 million cash ni ,.....we re ni man yi ke

truthera:
He also alleged that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s proposed ₦27.4bn take-off grant and referenced an alleged demand for ₦12.5bn.

chisomkachy:
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has withdrawn the alleged money laundering suit it filed at the Federal High Court against Lagos Speaker Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa.

Naija News understands that the anti-graft did not give any particular reason for its application for withdrawal.

Following the application to withdraw, Justice Nicholas Oweibo discharged the ‘lien/Post No Debit’ placed on Obasa’s three accounts in Standard Chartered Bank.

The accounts are (US Dollars) 0001852063; (Current) 0001852056 and (Saving) 5002309624.

The judge also set aside the ex-parte orders he made on September 15, 2020, which led to the freezing of the accounts.

Recall that the court on September 15, 2020, granted an interim order freezing Obasa’s accounts following the EFCC’s application in a suit marked FHC/LCS/1064/2020.

The agency had said it was investigating the Speaker for the alleged offences of conspiracy, diversion of funds, abuse of office and money laundering.

But Justice Oweibo, on August 16, 2023, heard the application to unfreeze the accounts in his chamber.

During the hearing, the EFCC was represented by Mr. Sulaiman I. Sulaiman, while Obasa was represented by Mr. Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN).

The EFCC lawyer told the court that the application to unfreeze the accounts was pursuant to Section 44(2)(K) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Sections 26, 29 and 34 (1) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004, and under the court’s inherent jurisdiction.

Section 44 of the Constitution concerns constitutional rights to property.

Justice Oweibo held: “It is hereby ordered that an order is hereby granted to the respondent/applicant setting aside the ex-parte orders of this court made on the 15th day of September 2020 upon the ex-parte motion of the Applicant/ Respondent in relation the funds of the Respondent/Applicant domiciled in the accounts stated in the following schedule:

“ACCOUNT NAME, FINANCIAL ACCOUNT INSTITUTIONS, TYPE OF ACCOUNT, 1. Mudasiru Ajayi Obasa, Standard Chartered, (US Dollars) 0001852063 2. Mudasiru Ajayi Obasa, Standard Chartered (Current) 0001852056 3. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, Standard Chartered (Saving) 5002309624.

“Issued at Lagos, under the seal of this Honourable Court and by the hands of the Presiding Judge this 16th day of August 2023.”

https://dailytimesng.com/obasa-efcc-withdraws-suit/

Previous Threads:
https://www.nairaland.com/5877642/obasa-64-bank-accounts-linked#89878603

https://wap.nairaland.com/6167844/lagos-assembly-speaker-obasa-efcc#94728150

https://www.nairaland.com/6168612/obasa-court-orders-efcc-freeze#94741534

badoh:
One out of this Mr Adeyemi or Gbaja must be thoroughly scrutinized and made to face the full weight of the law if found guilty. The way and manner useless people are siphoning public funds recklessly is alarming. We have very useless people in public and private office without conscience and accountability.