Ghost Agency Saga: Old Video Fuels Fresh Controversy

A video of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the man at the centre of the alleged ₦1.3 billion “ghost agency” scandal, has resurfaced online, adding fresh momentum to the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.

The video, recorded during a press briefing in late June 2026, shows Adeyemi defending his claim as Director-General of the alleged council while disputing the position of the Presidency and the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, headed by Femi Gbajabiamila.
During the briefing, Adeyemi questioned how an agency described by the Presidency as non-existent could have appeared in official budget documents.
According to him, the national budget goes through several stages, including technical drafting, executive coordination, ministerial contributions, Budget Office review and legislative scrutiny by both chambers of the National Assembly.
He argued that the inclusion of the agency in the budget raises serious concerns about the credibility of the budget preparation and approval 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 also claimed that the agency operated several accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, including domiciliary, pounds sterling and Treasury Single Accounts.
He questioned how a supposedly fictitious agency could have opened such accounts, insisting that doing so would be impossible without valid documentation.
He further alleged that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s proposed ₦27.4 billion take-off grant, amounting to about ₦12.5 billion.
The Presidency has consistently denied the allegations, maintaining that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council has no legal backing and was never established by the Federal Government.
It also accused Adeyemi of forging official documents, including appointment letters bearing the names and signatures of senior government officials, to present himself as the Director-General of the purported council.
Authorities further alleged that he operated from an office within Phase III of the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja, where he held meetings with government officials, diplomats, foreign investors and members of the public while posing as a senior government official.
The controversy intensified after reports revealed that an entity listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council received more than ₦1.3 billion in budgetary allocations.
The reported allocation included about ₦803 million for personnel, ₦200 million for overhead costs and ₦300 million for capital expenditure.
Adeyemi is currently facing an eight-count charge before the Federal High Court in Abuja bordering on forgery, impersonation, false personation and operating a fictitious government agency.
While the Presidency has urged the public to disregard his claims, insisting that the matter is before the court, Adeyemi maintains that he is not an impostor and says the court will determine the dispute.