Fake Agency Scandal: 12 officials, agencies that have questions to answer

It is now clear how shocking, sophisticated, and embarrassing the fraud allegedly perpetrated by the disowned Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, was, and how it penetrated the highest hierarchy of the Nigerian civil service.

It is also likely that some collaborators within the system colluded with or enabled Mr Adeyemi to commit the alleged fraud. However, the police investigation into the matter failed to link any individual in government or the civil service to Mr Adeyemi or his alleged fraud.

After a careful review of the entire saga, PREMIUM TIMES can now identify civil servants and agencies that signed letters that helped Mr Adeyemi secure a CBN account, a budget code, an office space at the federal secretariat, the deployment of staff and several other perks reserved only for legitimate government entities and officials.

The letters processed by these senior officials on behalf of Mr Adeyemi’s PFIPC have cast doubt on their competence, diligence, commitment to duty, and judgment. They also raised questions about how these senior civil servants verify the requests they receive before processing them.

While these letters are listed as exhibits in the Nigerian government’s lawsuit against Mr Adeyemi, the police investigation report seen by this newspaper shows that the police have not interrogated any of the individuals who approved, processed, and signed these letters on behalf of their respective agencies. Meanwhile, they are accessories to letters that helped Mr Adeyemi and the PFIPC penetrate the highest level and innermost recesses of the Nigerian civil service.

PREMIUM TIMES couldn’t independently verify whether these letters were forged or genuine. However, by questioning these individuals, the authenticity of the letters and the motivations for issuing them could be ascertained.

“Anyhow you look at it, questions are begging for answers. And whatever the answers will be, they will not be good,” said Joe Abah, a former DG of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR).

The Presidency

Documents reviewed by this newspaper revealed that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) uncovered Mr Adeyemi’s alleged fraud in November 2025.

In October 2025, Mr Gbajabiamila wrote to the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), urging them to investigate Mr Adeyemi, while accusing him of forgery.

On 27 October 2025, he wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to disclaim Mr Adeyemi and his agency after the ministry sought clarification.

On 5 November, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, also wrote to the SGF to disclaim the man and the agency, saying the presidency did not set up the agency or appoint anyone to run it.

But none of them issued a public disclaimer about it until more than six months later, in June 2026, thereby allowing Mr Adeyemi to continue his deceitful activities.

The simple question remains, why? Why did the government keep quiet instead of warning potential victims of Mr Adeyemi’s activities?

Femi Gbajabiamila – Chief of Staff to the President

Mr Adeyemi claims that Mr Gbajabiamila issued his letter of appointment.

The police say the letter is fake, and the Chief of Staff has denied issuing it.

In addition, Mr Gbajabiamila was the first official to disown Mr Adeyemi and wrote to the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), accusing him of forgery.

But the police also said in their investigation report that they have yet to question Mr Gbajabiamila or compare his actual signature with the ones on the alleged forged letter.

“It is pertinent to note that the statement of the complainant (Mr Gbajabiamila) or his representative from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President is yet to be recorded,” the police investigation report said.

“Similarly, specimen signatures are yet to be obtained for forensic comparison and analysis.”

A presidency official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to discuss the matter with the media, said the police needed to explain why they did not interview Mr Gbajabiamila despite Mr Adeyemi’s claim that he signed the appointment letter issued to him.

“I am sure the Chief of Staff would have been glad to answer their questions on the matter,” the official said.

But when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, Olanrewaju Smart, a longtime aide of Mr Gbajabiamila, stoutly defended his boss, saying, “How can the whistleblower who got him (Mr Adeyemi) arrested and also issued a public disclaimer be the same person who collected money from him? Shouldn’t he be doing everything to protect the guy? If he exposes the guy, is he not exposing himself? It’s just common sense.

“The so-called appointment letter is clearly forged on its face value, apart from the fact that the Chief of Staff (COS) does not and has never issued anyone a letter of appointment. That is the exclusive mandate of the SGF. Even the COS’s letter of appointment came from the SGF. Interestingly, he (Mr Adeyemi) is claiming that the only link between him and the COS died in a fire accident in a hotel. Stranger than fiction!”

“The guy’s history of fraud speaks volumes. The guy successfully visited and took pictures with many influential people in Nigeria, but no picture with the person he is accusing. That’s really strange.

“This is a public interest matter, and the security agencies need to broaden their investigations and unravel the collaborators, particularly those who dropped the ball, irrespective of whose ox is gored.”

Budget Office of the Federation

One of the mind-blowing revelations in this controversy is how an agency that the Nigerian government claims doesn’t exist secured a budget code and got its budget included and approved in the 2026 budget.

Who is responsible for assigning a budget code, and how did the non-existent agency get one? What does the process of getting a budget code look like? Was any part of it circumvented? Also, who compiled and vetted the State House’s 2026 budget, which captured the non-existent agency?

The Nigerian government and the police, who investigated the matter, have yet to provide answers to these questions, leaving Nigerians dumbfounded.

Nnamdi Mbaeri –Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF)

According to documents seen by this newspaper, Nnamdi Mbaeri, then the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office at the OSGF, signed the letter requesting office space for the PFIPC.

In the letter, dated 21 November 2024, Mr Mbaeri asked the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to allocate office accommodation from recovered federal government properties.

Mr Mbaeri retired in July 2025 and handed over to the Permanent Secretary, Special Services Office, Mohammed Danjuma.

The police need to ask Mr Mbaeri if he indeed wrote and signed the letters. It is also important to know whether he verified the existence of such an agency before processing the request for office. On what basis did he issue that letter, and what was his motivation for doing so? Did he bother to check whether his office had ever issued an appointment letter for Mr Adeyemi, or whether the government had ever created such an agency? Did he ask for the agency’s establishment law before acting on Mr Adeyemi’s request?

Nadungu Gagare –- OSGF

On 24 June 2025, Nadungu Gagare, the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs Office of the OSGF, sent an invitation to the “DG” of PFIPC, a non-existent agency, inviting him to join the Nigerian delegation to the Canada-Africa Fintech Summit (CAPS) in Canada.

“In accordance with Mr President’s Economic Strategies on the Renewed Hope Agenda, I invite you to participate in and join the Nigerian delegation to Canada from August 3rd to 8th 2025,” the letter reads in part.

Mr Gagare, a senior civil servant, ought to explain how he knew about PFIPC and why he invited the CEO of a non-existent agency, whose appointment letter was not issued by the SGF, to such an important foreign engagement.

George Akume — The Secretary to the Government of the Federation

The SGF, George Akume, needs to explain to the Nigerian people how this huge mess unfolded under his watch. His office is responsible for issuing appointment letters to government appointees. It did not issue any such letter to Mr Adeyemi. Yet the same office responded to Mr Adeyemi’s requests by writing letters to other government agencies, directing that office space be allocated to PFIPC. Who are the officials who dropped the balls here? How did it happen that Mr Akume’s office began to deal with a non-existent agency and its leadership?

OAGF officials who requested the CBN accounts

In a letter dated 29 July 2025 and referenced FD/OAGF/ADC2/2024/203/III/332/DF, an official at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation wrote to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to request that two domiciliary accounts –dollars and pounds– be opened for Mr Adeyemi’s PFIPC.

PREMIUM TIMES couldn’t obtain the letter to identify the exact official who authored it. However, this newspaper saw a reply from the CBN that quoted the reference number and date of the correspondence.

In the reply, signed by CBN’s Director, Banking Services Department, Hamisu Abdullahi, the bank listed the account names and account numbers created for the PFIPC.

The police need to investigate the said letter, the official who signed it and the processes that led to the request. Why did the bank not seek clarification from the SGF office to ascertain the creation of the agency and its enabling law? What Know Your Customer due diligence activities did the bank do before opening the accounts?

Hamisu Abdullahi – CBN

Hamisu Abdullahi, the CBN’s Director, Banking Services Department, facilitated the creation of the disowned agency’s domiciliary account at the CBN.

In a letter dated 13 August 2025, Mr Abdullahi replied to another letter from the OAGF, informing them that the requested domiciliary accounts had been created.

He also listed the account names and account numbers created for the PFIPC in the letter.

How Mr Abdullahi verified the authenticity of these agencies before the CBN accounts were created also needs to be ascertained. Also, what the requirements for creating CBN accounts were and how the non-existent agency met them remained a legitimate question on the lips of every Nigerian.

Mulikat Sanni – OAGF

As the Director, Treasury Inspectorate, Mulikat Sanni signed the 26 March 2025 letter approving the self-accounting status requested by Mr Adeyemi.

“I am directed to refer to your letter Ref. No. SH/PEAC/PFIPC/RQ/210 dated 12 March 2025 on the above subject and to convey the approval of the Accountant-General of the Federation to grant you a six (6) month Provisional Self-Accountant Status with effect from 27 May 2025,” the letter reads in part.

In May 2025, Ms Sanni was transferred from the OAGF Inspectorate Department to the Accounts Department of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the conditions for granting self-accounting status include a physical verification by the Inspectorate Department she headed.

Who are the officials who carried out the physical verification? What were their observations, and what does their report contain? There’s no evidence that the police sought or obtained this information.

Dauda Adulhamid –OAGF

On 28 August 2025, Dauda Abdulhamid, the Director of Administration at the OAGF, issued a posting of over 300 civil servants to different MDAs, including three to the now-disowned PFIPC.

“I am directed to inform you that the Accountant General of the Federation has approved the posting of the following Treasury Officers with immediate effect toward enhancing effective service delivery,” parts of the letter read.

The Nigeria Police Force and the Judiciary

The Nigerian Police Force’s delay in prosecuting Mr Adeyemi has also raised important questions. Why was there no urgency in prosecuting the matter, a criminal offence?

According to documents seen by this newspaper, the police started their investigation on 23 October and concluded it on 13 November 2025.

While the charges show they were filed on 27 November 2025, it remains unclear why the first hearing was scheduled eight months later, on 27 July.

The police are known to expedite the prosecution of criminal cases, but the lukewarm attitude toward this particular case is puzzling.