Until the allegation surfaced, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola was known only within a small circle of associates. The Presidency’s disclosure, however, has focused public attention on a figure whose death has put a critical lead in the case beyond investigators’ reach.
Photographs obtained by Daily Trust show Tanimola at different times in the company of prominent Nigerian public figures, including former President Goodluck Jonathan; former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd); businessmen Tony Elumelu and Abdulsamad Rabiu; former Inspectors‑General of Police Mike Okiro, Solomon Arase and Kayode Egbetokun; philanthropist Arthur Eze; Lagos Deputy Governor and APC governorship candidate Engr. Obafemi Hamzat; and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, among others. While the images indicate he moved in influential circles, they do not by themselves suggest those figures had knowledge of the activities now under investigation.
The renewed interest follows a detailed Presidential response to claims by Adeyemi, who had presented himself as Director‑General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council — an agency the Presidency says never existed. In a statement, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described Adeyemi as an impostor who allegedly forged his appointment letter, impersonated a government official and is now standing trial on an eight‑count charge that includes forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.
The Presidency said that during police interrogation after his October 2025 arrest, Adeyemi named Tanimola as the person who helped him procure the appointment letter. Investigators were unable to question Tanimola: the Presidency said police efforts to trace him showed he had died in a fire at Kachi Hotel in Utako, Abuja, on October 22, 2025 — five days before Adeyemi’s arrest. Authorities say they verified his death through hospital records, interviews with relatives and the hotel proprietor, and burial records. Daily Trust sources say he was buried after a funeral service at Saint Matthew Anglican Church, Maitama, on November 8, 2025.
Beyond those confirmations, little public information exists about Tanimola. The Presidency did not disclose his occupation, official affiliations or how he was alleged to have become involved in procuring the disputed letter. It is also unclear why Adeyemi named him, whether any documentary or digital evidence linking Tanimola to the alleged forgery was recovered before his death, or what the precise nature of their relationship was.
As criminal proceedings against Adeyemi continue, the late Tanimola remains an intriguing and elusive figure in a controversy that has drawn national attention — not because he has faced charges in court, but because the Presidency has identified him as a key link in one of the most controversial impersonation cases in recent years.
Below are some of the photographs showing the late Tanimola alongside prominent Nigerian leaders and public officials before his death: credit to Dailytrust Newspaper
