Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, has stated that he is willing to collaborate with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission in its probe of the agency.
He revealed this on Tuesday during an Instagram conversation with social media celebrity VeryDarkMan, hours after President Bola Tinubu asked the ICPC to probe the activities of the purported agency and all associated subjects, requesting a thorough report within 30 days.
Adeyemi also stated that he is willing to hand over materials in his hands to security services to aid ongoing investigations into the scandal surrounding the body.
He said, “I am willing and ready to help security agencies or any panel set up by Mr President to unravel the truth.
“In fact, any moment from now, I will go to the DSS or the police to submit all the documents I have to help them investigate and look into this matter.”
Adeyemi stated that he possessed documents he believed would assist investigators in uncovering the circumstances surrounding the council.
“They should authenticate them. They should verify them. They should unravel the truth,” he said.
Speaking during the interview, Adeyemi questioned how the council, which the presidency insists does not exist, appeared in the national budget.
“When the presidency, through the chief of staff, said the agency does not exist, I wondered how an agency that found its way into the national budget could suddenly be described as fake,” he said.
He added, “I was in detention for 23 days during the period the budget was being prepared. I did not prepare or defend any budget, and nobody went to defend it on my behalf. That is why I am confused about how the agency found its way into the national budget.”
Regarding his charges against the president’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, Adeyemi stated that he would rather have an impartial investigation than make additional accusations.
“I wouldn’t say he’s lying, and I wouldn’t say he’s telling the truth. That is why I requested that Mr President set up an investigative panel to unravel the truth so we will know those involved,” he said.
Adeyemi also claimed to have been attacked by gunmen near Zuma Rock in September 2025, and he reiterated that his engagement with the council stemmed from a desire to bring foreign investment to Nigeria.
“I don’t really have a negative plan. It’s all about passion for the country. That agency is to bring foreign investors to Nigeria and make Nigeria a preferred destination for investment,” he said.
The Presidency has maintained that the federal government never established the council, while the ICPC has been directed to conclude its investigation and submit a report within 30 days.
Tinubu also directed the ICPC to look into the forged appointment letters and official government documents that Adeyemi allegedly used to seek or obtain official recognition and diplomatic support, including visa facilitation, as well as the creation of multiple bank accounts in the names of purported government agencies using allegedly forged documents.
The directive comes after weeks of mounting public pressure from civil society organisations, opposition politicians, and senior lawyers demanding an independent investigation into how the fictitious council operated from the Federal Secretariat Complex, opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act with an allocation of N1.3 billion, and engaged diplomatic missions, all without any enabling law or presidential instrument.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, who represents Adeyemi, questioned how the body made it into the national budget even if the appointment letter was falsified and urged the ICPC to investigate both Adeyemi and Gbajabiamila.
The presidency had rejected any link between Gbajabiamila and the scam, citing forensic investigation by the police that verified the signature on the appointment letter was faked.
