The embattled Director-General of the disowned Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has claimed that the N400 million he allegedly paid to secure his appointment was borrowed, revealing that his creditors have now petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover the money.
Adeyemi made the disclosure during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, weeks after accusing the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, of receiving the money through a proxy to facilitate his appointment.
According to him, the funds were obtained through loans, leaving him under pressure from those who financed the payment.
“I borrowed this money. In fact, those that I borrowed this money from have reported to the EFCC. I borrowed this money to pay for this appointment. They have written to the EFCC, asking me to refund their money.
“So, I’m not even here to pay the money back. I borrowed this money,” Adeyemi said.
He described the government’s handling of the controversy as “very, very unfortunate,” insisting that he had been unfairly portrayed as someone who manipulated the system.
“Imagine the government claiming I manoeuvre the whole system. It’s unfortunate,” he added.
Responding to reports that a United States lobbying firm was assisting him in seeking asylum, Adeyemi dismissed the claims, saying he only became aware of them through media reports.
“I read it the way you read it. Some people call me that they are looking for me,” he said.
He explained that he had little knowledge of the reports because he had largely withdrawn from social media following what he described as coordinated attacks on his online platforms.
“I just ignore it because they sponsor a lot of people to bring my social media handle down. So, I don’t really know much what is going on again. I just hear from family and friends,” he said.
Adeyemi also denied speculations that he intended to flee Nigeria, insisting that he remained in the country despite reports suggesting otherwise.
“They pulled my social media handle down, and they still reported that I was about to run away out of Nigeria. I’m still in Nigeria. I’m not going anywhere,” he stated.
The PFIPC controversy came to public attention after the Presidency, in a disclaimer issued on June 11 and signed by Gbajabiamila, declared that no such agency existed under President Bola Tinubu’s administration and described Adeyemi as an impostor.
In a subsequent statement issued on July 1, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed that police investigations allegedly found that Adeyemi forged a presidential appointment letter purportedly signed by Gbajabiamila, operated a fictitious government agency and maintained 34 bank accounts, including nine allegedly opened in the names of non-existent government agencies.
According to the Presidency, concerns over the council first surfaced in October 2025 after the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission raised the alarm over another government-styled body allegedly carrying out overlapping functions.
Despite the government’s position, Adeyemi has consistently maintained that his appointment was genuine, insisting that he operated openly for nearly three years, during which he interacted with heads of ministries, departments and agencies and hosted foreign delegations, including officials from the EFCC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He had earlier accused Gbajabiamila of receiving N400 million through a proxy to facilitate his appointment, demanding an additional N200 million and requesting 48 per cent of a purported N27.4 billion take-off grant for the council. Gbajabiamila’s lawyers have denied the allegations and threatened a N10 billion defamation suit against him.
Adeyemi later told social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, that he had never met Gbajabiamila physically and could not verify the identity of the individual he allegedly spoke with over the telephone.
The controversy deepened after it emerged that the PFIPC was listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation exceeding N1.3 billion, raising fresh questions about how an agency the Presidency described as fictitious made its way into the national budget.
President Tinubu has since directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter and submit its findings within 30 days.
