The Presidency has alleged that the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) points to the involvement of insiders within government institutions who allegedly helped sustain the operations of the controversial body and its promoter, Prince Matthew Adeniyi Adeyemi.
The allegation was made by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, who maintained that security agencies must identify and prosecute everyone involved in facilitating the activities of the alleged fraudulent network.
According to Ajayi, there is little doubt that internal collaborators enabled Adeyemi to allegedly forge presidential appointment documents, operate 34 bank accounts under the names of fictitious government agencies, receive foreign diplomats and even open a Central Bank of Nigeria account while presenting himself as the Director-General of the PFIPC. He said investigators from the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have a responsibility to uncover the full extent of the alleged conspiracy.
He called for everyone found to have participated in the scheme to be arrested and prosecuted, insisting that dismantling the alleged criminal network is essential to protecting the integrity of public institutions.
Ajayi also accused Adeyemi of attempting to shield himself from prosecution by making corruption allegations against the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. He described Adeyemi as a serial fraudster who understands how allegations of corruption can easily divert public attention from the core issues under investigation.
The presidential aide maintained that the allegations against Gbajabiamila were intended to distract from the criminal case involving the disputed council, which the Presidency has consistently maintained does not exist under the current administration. He urged security agencies to focus on exposing those who allegedly enabled the operation rather than the diversionary claims surrounding the matter.