Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has said internal collaborators within government institutions enabled an alleged con artist, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, to operate a fictitious federal agency, urging security agencies to fish out the culprits.

Ajayi also accused Adeniyi of using corruption allegations against Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila to curry public sympathy.

The presidential aide stated this in an X post on Friday, describing Adeniyi as 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.”

Adeniyi, who paraded himself as Director-General of the “Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council/Presidential Economic Advisory Council,” was arrested on October 27, 2025 at his office in the Federal Secretariat Complex, Abuja.

Searches of his office and residence in Suleja allegedly yielded forged documents.

Ajayi 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… The Chief of Staff is simply his last straw.”

The presidency said the scheme was uncovered after officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) complained that a purported government body was carrying out similar functions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also raised concerns in a letter dated October 15, 2025, after Adeniyi reportedly met with ambassadors at the Wells Carlton Hotel in Abuja without the Ministry’s involvement.

Ajayi argued that the “anything-goes narrative” in governance being promoted in relation to the matter was unjustified since it was the system that “raised the red flag and dealt with it administratively.”

He explained, “Many commentators have rightly pointed to the systemic failure that allowed such an elaborate fraudulent scheme to flourish.

“Daredevil criminals who operate around government institutions with the sole aim of pulling off spectacular heists are common across the world.

“Some succeed, many fail. The part many commentators have overlooked, however, is how that same system eventually detected the fraud and fished him out.

“First, officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, the statutory agency responsible for investment promotion, together with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, identified the anomaly and lodged complaints with the appropriate authorities for clarification. That is a system functioning as it should.”

In an earlier statement, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga disclosed how on October 17, 2025, the Chief of Staff petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force to investigate alleged forgery of appointment letters purportedly issued from his office.

Gbajabiamila said the letters bearing his signature, reference numbers and official seals were being used to legitimise the fictitious agency.

The police on November 27, 2025 filed an eight-count charge against Adeniyi and two accomplices at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The charges include conspiracy, forgery of a presidential appointment letter purportedly signed by Gbajabiamila, impersonation, and operating 34 bank accounts in the names of non-existent government bodies.

He is due in court on July 27, 2026.

The presidency said Adeniyi hosted meetings with foreign diplomats, sought a note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate US visas for his “staff,” and even opened a Central Bank account through false representations.

Ajayi said investigators from the DSS, Police and EFCC must now unravel how Adeniyi got this far.

“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,” he said. (The Sun)

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