As the controversy on the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council continues to dominate discussions, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has called on security and anti-graft agencies to identify, arrest and prosecute government officials who may have collaborated with Prince Matthew Adeniyi Adeyemi in the alleged operation of two fictitious federal government agencies.
Ajayi, in a statement on his verified X handle, pointed out that investigators must go beyond Adeyemi and expose the internal network that allegedly enabled him to operate for an extended period.
He therefore challenged the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate all officials within public institutions who may have aided the alleged scheme.
While observing that much of the public debate has ignored the fact that government institutions detected the alleged fraud and acted on it, the Presidential Spokesperson revealed that officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, working with officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first discovered inconsistencies in Adeyemi’s operations and reported the matter to the appropriate authorities.
“Contrary to the anything-goes narrative being promoted, it was the system itself that raised the red flag and dealt with it administratively,” Ajayi disclosed.
Acknowledging that the suspect could not have operated for long without help from insiders, he stated: “What is not in doubt is that internal collaborators enabled Adeyemi to get this far. That is precisely what investigators from the DSS, the Police and the EFCC must now unravel.
“The criminal network within the affected institutions must be dismantled and everyone found to have played a role should be arrested and prosecuted”.
Delving into the discussions surrounding the development, Ajayi however accused Adeyemi of attempting to drag the Chief of staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila into the controversy as a diversionary tactic.
“In Nigeria, the easiest and most believable allegation anyone can throw at a public officer is corruption.
“Once that accusation is thrown into the mix, the water is polluted, the lines are blurred and everyone is kept busy arguing over distractions rather than the real issues,” he wrote.
He described Adeyemi as “an irredeemable con artist” who was using allegations against the Chief of Staff as “his last straw” to avoid criminal liability.
Recall, Adeyemi has been accused by the Presidency of creating the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and allegedly using forged documents purportedly linked to the Presidency.
The Presidency had earlier disowned the disowned the two organisations, insisting that they did not exist as government agencies.
Though Prince Adeyemi has denied any wrong doing and linked his operation to the Authorities, the Presidency also maintained that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, neither authorised Adeyemi’s activities nor had any connection with them.
