A video of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the man accused of heading an alleged “ghost agency” linked to a ₦1.3 billion budget scandal, has resurfaced online as controversy over the case continues.
The footage, first recorded during a press conference in late June 2026, shows Adeyemi defending his claim as Director-General of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council while challenging the position of the Presidency and the Office of the Chief of Staff, led by Femi Gbajabiamila.
According to the report by Punch Newspapers, Adeyemi questioned how an agency the Presidency says does not exist appeared in official budget documents.
He argued that the federal budget undergoes several stages of drafting, executive coordination, Budget Office review and legislative approval, asking at what point references to the alleged agency entered official records.
Adeyemi also claimed the council operated domiciliary, pounds sterling and Treasury Single Account accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, questioning how a fictitious agency could allegedly maintain such accounts.
He further alleged that Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s proposed ₦27.4 billion take-off grant, amounting to about ₦12.5 billion.
The Presidency has repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council has no legal backing and was never established by the Federal Government.
Government officials allege that Adeyemi forged appointment letters and other official documents to present himself as the Director-General of the purported council. Authorities also claim he operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja, where he allegedly met government officials, diplomats, investors and members of the public while posing as a senior government official.
The controversy intensified after reports revealed that the 2026 Appropriation Act allocated more than ₦1.3 billion to an entity listed as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council. The allocation reportedly included about ₦803 million for personnel, ₦200 million for overhead costs and ₦300 million for capital expenditure.
Adeyemi is currently facing an eight-count charge before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of forgery, impersonation, false personation and operating a fictitious government agency.
The Presidency has urged the public to disregard Adeyemi’s claims, maintaining that the matter is before the court, while Adeyemi insists he is not an impostor and says the judiciary will determine the dispute.
