THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered two additional fictitious government agencies allegedly created by Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The findings were contained in an interim report presented to President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, August 6, according to the ICPC chairman, Musa Aliyu.
The ICPC boss said investigators established that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government and that the PFIPC had no legal existence.
Aliyu also said that the appointment letter presented by Adeyemi was forged and did not originate from the Presidency.
“The appointment letter presented by Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew was completely forged alongside similar documents used to perpetuate the illegal activities of the fake agency,” he said.
Aliyu also disclosed that investigators uncovered two additional fictitious agencies allegedly floated by Adeyemi to facilitate the operation of the fraudulent scheme.
The agencies are said to be the FCT Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership (FIPA-PPP).
According the ICPC chairman, forged legislative instruments, presented as enabling Acts, were allegedly used to create the agencies and open bank accounts through which illegal activities were carried out.
The commission further found that the fake PFIPC unlawfully appropriated the offices and operational instruments of the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), using the facilities to impersonate a legitimate federal institution.
Aliyu added that the investigation uncovered widespread impersonation, false representation and other fraudulent activities allegedly carried out under the guise of the fake agency.
Despite the elaborate operation, the ICPC said it found no evidence that Federal Government funds were approved or disbursed to either the PFIPC or the former PEAC.
“Our investigation found that no fund of the Federal Government was approved or disbursed to the fake PFIPC/PEAC,” Aliyu said.
The commission also cleared the State House and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of any institutional compromise, stating that its investigation found no weaknesses in the systems or processes of either institution.
However, Aliyu mentioned that the scheme exploited weaknesses in inter-agency verification processes, oversight mechanisms and administrative procedures, aided by alleged negligence and possible connivance by some public officials.
The interim report identified officials from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Budget Office of the Federation and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) as among those whose actions or omissions allegedly facilitated the operation of the fake agency.
The ICPC recommended the prosecution of Adeyemi, administrative sanctions against public officers whose negligence enabled the fraudulent operation and institutional reforms to strengthen verification and oversight mechanisms across government agencies.
Aliyu said investigations into the activities of Adeyemi, the bank accounts linked to the PFIPC and its collaborators were still ongoing and that further criminal charges would follow upon the conclusion of the probe.
Tinubu had on July 7 directed the ICPC to investigate the PFIPC after allegations emerged that the organisation had presented itself as a Federal Government agency despite lacking any legal foundation.
The directive followed revelations that Adeyemi linked the fake agency to Femi Gbajabiamila, the president’s chief of staff.
The presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, had revealed that the 2026 Appropriation Act allocated ₦1.302 billion to the PFIPC despite the Presidency’s position that the council was non-existent.
However, The ICIR reports that shortly after Tinubu directed the ICPC to investigate the alleged fake agency, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar argued that the probe should not be handled solely by the anti-corruption agency.
He called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry comprising representatives of opposition political parties namely African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), and other independent stakeholders to ensure transparency and public confidence in the findings.
Abubakar had described the ICPC investigation as a step in the right direction but insisted that an independent panel was necessary.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M