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Nigerian police arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who had presented himself as director general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, in Osun State after a manhunt lasting several weeks. According to police statements, the operation involved the Force Intelligence Department along with the Intelligence Response Team, and the suspect is now set to undergo further questioning at headquarters in Abuja. Matthew skipped a scheduled Tuesday hearing at the Federal High Court in the capital, where he faced charges of forgery and impersonation, leading directly to the issuance of a warrant for his detention. His lawyer told the court that safety fears had prevented the appearance and that Matthew had sent an open letter outlining those concerns to President Bola Tinubu.
The presidency stated last week that documents used to create the PFIPC were fabricated, including a forged signature attributed to chief of staff Femi Gbajabiamila on an appointment letter. President Tinubu directed a corruption investigation into the matter immediately after the forgery came to light, the presidential office said. Matthew had claimed in interviews with local media that the council began work in 2024 to bring foreign investment into Nigeria, but authorities found no record of any resulting deals or agreements. The suspect had previously promised to clear his name in court while asserting that his life was in danger.
Despite lacking any official standing, the fictitious council secured office space inside the Federal Secretariat complex in Abuja and registered multiple bank accounts, one of them with the Central Bank of Nigeria. The entity appeared as a line item in the 2026 Appropriation Act with funding of 1.3 billion naira, roughly equivalent to $950,000, according to budget records. The Accountant-General’s Office confirmed that no public money was ever released to the PFIPC and that it never maintained any operational account at the central bank. Premium Times reported that Matthew denied any role in preparing or inserting the budget allocation for the nonexistent body.
The House of Representatives constituted a committee to investigate how the allocation entered the budget and to examine the legal status of agencies listed in both the 2025 and 2026 appropriation frameworks, parliamentary records show. Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu supported the inquiry after his own office received correspondence from the group claiming ties to the presidency and operating from the federal secretariat. The Guardian reported that the episode has created a political storm for the Tinubu administration in the period leading up to general elections scheduled for January. Lawmakers described the incident as a risk to the credibility of the national budgeting process and insisted that anyone found responsible must be held accountable.
Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025 assigned Nigeria a score of 26 out of 100, resulting in a rank of 142 out of 182 countries with no change from the previous year. The assessment found that weak democratic institutions and governance shortfalls across much of Sub-Saharan Africa continue to sustain high levels of perceived public sector corruption. A recent TVC News review of the PFIPC case noted that the fake agency had opened as many as 34 separate bank accounts before its existence was questioned.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has warned repeatedly over recent months about a rising pattern of criminals impersonating government officials to run fake operations and enforcement activities in major cities. Court documents list Matthew along with two other individuals as having used forged papers to establish the council, open accounts in its name and seek formal recognition from state bodies. The current case has prompted renewed calls from civil society organisations, opposition politicians and senior lawyers for a fully independent inquiry into how such a scheme could advance so far inside government structures.
