Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled Director-General of the disowned Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has claimed that the N400 million he allegedly paid to secure his appointment was borrowed.
Adeyemi further revealed that his creditors have now petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover the funds.
Speaking on Channels Television’s *Politics Today* on Monday, Adeyemi stated that he is under intense pressure from the lenders.
“I borrowed this money. In fact, those I borrowed it from have reported the matter to the EFCC. They have written to the commission asking me to refund their money. I did not even have the money to pay back; I borrowed it to pay for this appointment,” Adeyemi said.
His disclosure comes weeks after he accused the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, of receiving the N400 million through a proxy to facilitate his appointment. Gbajabiamila’s legal team has since denied the allegations, threatening a N10 billion defamation lawsuit.
Adeyemi criticized the federal government’s handling of the controversy, describing it as “very unfortunate” and rejecting claims that he manipulated the administrative system to set up the council.
### Asylum Claims and Fleeing Rumors Denied
Reacting to reports that a United States-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, was assisting him in seeking political asylum and whistleblower protection in the U.S., Adeyemi dismissed the claims. He stated he only became aware of the development through media reports.
“I read it the way you read it. I just ignore it because there have been sponsored attacks to bring down my social media handles. I don’t really know much of what is going on; I only hear from family and friends,” he said.
He also debunked speculations that he was planning to flee the country. “They pulled my social media handles down and reported that I was about to run away from Nigeria. I am still in Nigeria. I am not going anywhere,” he maintained.
### The Genesis of the PFIPC Scandal
The controversy surrounding the PFIPC blew open on June 11, when the Presidency issued a disclaimer signed by Gbajabiamila, declaring that no such agency existed under the President Bola Tinubu administration and labeling Adeyemi an impostor.
On July 1, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed that a police investigation alleged Adeyemi had forged a presidential appointment letter, operated a fictitious agency, and run 34 bank accounts—nine of which were reportedly opened under the names of non-existent government bodies.
According to the Presidency, concerns about the council were first flagged in October 2025 by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) over overlapping functions.
### Budgetary Contradictions
Despite the Presidency’s insistence that the PFIPC is fictitious, Adeyemi maintained that his appointment was legitimate. He argued that the council operated openly for nearly three years, during which he interacted with various ministries, departments, agencies, and foreign delegations.
The controversy deepened after it was revealed that the PFIPC was listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation of over N1.3 billion, raising questions about how a supposedly non-existent agency secured federal funding.
Adeyemi previously alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded an additional N200 million and requested 48 percent of a purported N27.4 billion take-off grant for the council.
However, in a later conversation with social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, Adeyemi admitted that he had never met Gbajabiamila physically and could not verify the identity of the person he spoke with on the phone.
President Tinubu has since ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter and submit a report within 30 days.
