The Presidency has called on security and anti-corruption agencies to investigate, arrest, and prosecute government officials allegedly linked to a fraudulent scheme involving two fictitious federal agencies.

According to reports, Prince Matthew Adeniyi Adeyemi is accused of creating the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council using forged documents purportedly connected to the Presidency.

In a statement shared via his verified X account, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, urged investigators to go beyond Adeyemi and uncover the network of insiders who may have facilitated the alleged operation.

Ajayi specifically called on the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe all individuals within public institutions who may have played a role in enabling the scheme.

He noted that contrary to widespread public perception, the alleged fraud was first uncovered by government institutions themselves. Officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reportedly identified inconsistencies in Adeyemi’s activities and escalated the matter to relevant 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 stated.

However, he acknowledged that the suspect could not have operated for an extended period without internal support.

“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 all those found culpable should be arrested and prosecuted,” he added.

The Presidency had earlier distanced itself from the two organisations, insisting they were not recognised government agencies. It also clarified that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, neither authorised nor had any involvement in Adeyemi’s activities.

Ajayi further accused Adeyemi of attempting to implicate Gbajabiamila as a diversionary tactic to evade accountability.

“In Nigeria, the easiest and most believable allegation anyone can throw at a public officer is corruption. Once that accusation is introduced, it clouds the issue and distracts from the real facts,” he said.

He described Adeyemi as “an irredeemable con artist,” alleging that his claims against the Chief of Staff were a last-ditch effort to avoid prosecution.

The Presidency maintained that the situation should not be interpreted as evidence of high-level government complicity, but rather as a case of alleged fraud detected and addressed by existing institutional mechanisms.