President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the activities of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and all related matters, demanding a comprehensive report within 30 days.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed the fresh directive in a statement he signed Tuesday titled ‘President Tinubu orders ICPC to investigate Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.’
Onanuga said “the directive follows the discovery of the fictitious council, which the Presidency said was never established by the Federal Government and has no basis in the law, presidential instrument, executive approval or other lawful act of government.”
President Tinubu directed the ICPC to investigate the forged appointment letters and official government documents allegedly used by one Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew, who presented himself as Director-General of the so-called council and falsely claimed to be a presidential appointee, it stated.
The investigation is also to cover his use of a false claim of presidential appointment to seek or obtain official recognition and diplomatic support, including visa facilitation, as well as the opening of multiple bank accounts in the names of purported government agencies using allegedly forged documents.
Tinubu also ordered the ICPC to examine “the wider circumstances that may have enabled a fictitious body and a false claim of presidential appointment to acquire an appearance of official legitimacy,” the statement read.
It added, “The investigation is to examine the provenance and use of false official documents; the processes through which official recognition or diplomatic support may have been sought or obtained; the opening and operation of any related bank accounts; the source and movement of any funds involved; and the role of any public officer, private individual, financial institution, intermediary or other person or entity that may have facilitated, enabled or participated in the alleged scheme.”
The President further directed the ICPC to identify weaknesses in government and institutional procedures that were exploited and to recommend immediate measures to prevent a recurrence.
All ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government were directed to provide the ICPC with all relevant information, records and assistance required for the expeditious completion of the investigation.
“The integrity of the Presidency and the institutions of the Federal Government must be protected against impersonation, forgery, abuse of official identity and the exploitation of weaknesses in the public service.
“All persons found culpable are to be treated strictly in accordance with applicable law,” the President stated.
The directive comes after weeks of mounting public pressure from civil society organisations, opposition politicians and senior lawyers who demanded an independent inquiry 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 N1.3bn and engaged diplomatic missions, all without any enabling law or presidential instrument.
