The Presidency on Friday directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force to identify and prosecute officials who allegedly collaborated with Adeyemi Adeniyi Matthew in operating the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, a body it described as non-existent.
It also accused the suspect of attempting to drag the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, into what it described as a criminal enterprise through a sustained smear campaign.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, disclosed this in a statement posted on his verified X handle on Friday.
According to Ajayi, investigations must go beyond Adeniyi to uncover those within government institutions who allegedly facilitated his activities.
He said, “What is not in doubt is that internal collaborators enabled Adeniyi 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.”
The presidential spokesman described Adeniyi as “an irredeemable con artist,” accusing him of exploiting public perception about corruption to divert attention from the allegations against him.
He said, “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.
“Matthew Adeniyi understands Nigerian public psychology, and he is exploiting it expertly to shield himself. He is an irredeemable con artist who is attempting to drag the name of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, into his criminal enterprise. The Chief of Staff is simply his last straw.”
Ajayi further alleged that investigators must establish how Adeniyi allegedly forged presidential appointment letters, operated 34 bank accounts in the names of fictitious government agencies, hosted foreign ambassadors and opened a Central Bank account while allegedly parading himself as the Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
He maintained that exposing those who aided the suspect was crucial to dismantling what he described as a criminal network operating within public institutions.
As of the time of filing this report, Adeniyi had yet to publicly respond to the latest allegations by the Presidency.