Forensic examiners say Adeniyi Adeyemi forged a fake Director of Administration’s signature and a State House letterhead lacking genuine security features.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has found no evidence linking Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila to the appointment of Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew as director-general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), a fake federal agency.
The commission said its investigation found Adeyemi personally forged an appointment letter dated March 2024 on a fake State House letterhead, attributing its signature to Gbajabiamila.
Investigators found no evidence Adeyemi was ever appointed by the Chief of Staff or had any direct engagement with him, and no evidence linking Gbajabiamila, his office or the State House to Adeyemi, the PFIPC or anyone acting on its behalf.
How ICPC traced the forgery
ICPC Chairman Musa Adamu Aliyu disclosed the findings while presenting the commission’s interim report to President Bola Tinubu on 6 August, exactly 30 days after Tinubu ordered the probe following Adeyemi’s allegation that he had paid N400 million to secure the appointment.
“I have just submitted the interim report and briefed Mr President accordingly. The President took the right decision in the spirit of transparency and accountability and directed me to address the media for the benefit of Nigerians,” Aliyu said.
Investigators examined whether Adeyemi was genuinely appointed, whether his appointment letter was authentic, and what role the Office of the Chief of Staff plays in such appointments.
They found that office does not issue appointment letters to political appointees or agency heads at all, its role is limited to conveying presidential approvals to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, which issues the actual letters.
A review of the Chief of Staff’s dispatch system and Automated Correspondence Management platform found no trace of any communication involving Adeyemi or the PFIPC between 2024 and September 2025.
Fake State House documents unravel
The ICPC’s review of State House records between 2023 and 2026 found no Director of Administration named Akanbi Adewale, the name that appeared on a letter requesting an administrative code for the PFIPC from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, purportedly signed on behalf of the Permanent Secretary.
Investigators found Adewale was never a State House employee, and that the State House has no department called “Administration and Support Services,” only an “Administration Department.”
A visual examination found the letterhead used in the correspondence lacked the security features found on genuine State House documents, while forensic handwriting analysis established that Adewale’s supposed signature, and the signature attributed to Gbajabiamila on Adeyemi’s appointment letter, were both fabricated by Adeyemi himself, along with other documents bearing matching handwriting.
The commission also confirmed no public funds were approved or disbursed to either the fake PFIPC or the former Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), whose office space and operational instruments Adeyemi’s outfit had illegally appropriated.
Verification failures across government
Beyond the forgery, ICPC identified significant verification failures across government institutions, finding that ministries, departments and agencies failed to conduct adequate checks when they encountered the purported new agency, allowing the scheme to secure office space, government accounts and deployed civil servants.
Adeyemi initially claimed Gbajabiamila was involved in his appointment and alleged he had paid someone he believed was the Chief of Staff, before later softening his position, saying he could not say with certainty whether Gbajabiamila was involved.
Gbajabiamila has consistently denied the allegations, subsequently filing a N15 billion defamation suit against Adeyemi, who is separately facing criminal charges, including forgery and impersonation, alongside two co-defendants said to be at large.
The scandal has since widened: the same investigation uncovered a second fake outfit, the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, allegedly run by George Buchi Nwabueze within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, prompting Tinubu to order Nwabueze’s arrest and the suspension of three permanent secretaries.
