Adeyemi Adeniyi, the embattled Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has intensified the controversy surrounding his appointment, declaring that he borrowed N400million to allegedly purchase his position in President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Adeyemi stood by his earlier allegations that the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, received N400million through a proxy to facilitate his appointment and later demanded an additional N200million before confirming him in office.
When asked how he raised the money he claimed to have paid, Adeyemi said the funds were obtained through loans and that he has yet to repay them.
“I borrowed this money (N400million). In fact, those that I borrowed this N400million from have reported to the EFCC. I borrowed the money to pay for this appointment. I’m even yet to repay the money,” he said.
The latest revelation comes despite the Presidency’s outright dismissal of his allegations, describing the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council as a fictitious agency and distancing the administration from Adeyemi.
However, the controversy has refused to die down following reports that the council allegedly received budgetary allocations from the Federal Government and operated from office space within the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja.
During the television interview, Adeyemi also dismissed allegations that he falsely presented himself as a United Nations ambassador, insisting that the accusations were politically motivated.
“It is all sponsored. It is a campaign of calumny,” he said.
Adeyemi had earlier, during a press conference, accused Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila of receiving N400million through an intermediary before allegedly demanding an additional N200million to finalise his appointment as head of the agency.
The Presidency has consistently rejected the claims, maintaining that the PFIPC has no legal existence and describing Adeyemi’s allegations as false.
The dispute has since widened beyond the bribery allegations, raising fresh questions over how the agency allegedly secured public funding despite the Presidency’s insistence that it was never lawfully established.
Previously SaharaReporters reported that the Nigeria Police Force concluded plans to arraign Adeyemi before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations bordering on forgery, impersonation and related offences.
According to the police charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, Adeyemi and two other defendants are facing eight counts, including forgery and impersonation.
Police investigators alleged that Adeyemi operated the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council from the second floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja, before his eventual arrest.
The controversy prompted Tinubu to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the activities of the agency within 30 days.
The scandal has also triggered widespread criticism from opposition parties and political figures, who have demanded an independent investigation into how the agency allegedly obtained a ₦1.302billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act, despite repeated claims by the Presidency that the council had no legal status.
Although the Senate declined to commence a separate investigation pending the outcome of the ICPC probe, opposition parties have continued to insist that both the appropriation process and Adeyemi’s bribery allegations deserve an independent and transparent investigation.
The conflicting narratives between Adeyemi’s claims, the Presidency’s denial and the agency’s reported inclusion in the federal budget have further intensified public scrutiny over appointments, budget implementation and accountability within the Tinubu administration.
