The Adeyemi Affair and Why Government is Now Looking Everywhere

The Adeniyi Adeyemi scandal has done what no auditor’s report could—it has forced the federal government to take a hard look at the agencies and parastatals operating under its nose. All of this because one man allegedly built a fake council, secured a budget, opened offices and got civil servants deployed. All without anyone asking questions.

Adeyemi is the self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC). The problem is that the council does not legally exist. He allegedly used forged presidential letters to give it the appearance of federal backing. The government says he succeeded well enough to secure N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

How did this happen? Adeyemi reportedly opened 34 bank accounts, including official Central Bank pathways. He secured office space on the 2nd Floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja. He summoned foreign ambassadors to meetings at a luxury hotel. He also held sessions with actual government ministers. The Office of the National Security Adviser was completely bypassed.

The fake agency even got approval to recruit over 300 staff members. Active civil servants were deployed to its office despite a federal hiring freeze. The system processed his requests as legitimate.

As if these are not shock-worthy enough, major institutions like the CBN and the Accountant-General’s office did not raise any flags. That is what has shaken the presidency.

President Bola Tinubu has now given a 30-day ultimatum for a full report. The government wants to know how a non-existent entity made it into the national budget. It is also tightening the verification protocols that validate presidential directives. Adeyemi faces an eight-count charge for forgery, impersonation and conspiracy at the Federal High Court. But beyond the personalities, the case is raising questions among even experts. How are such entities established? Which government institution supervises them? What legal instruments define their existence?

For this reason, everybody agrees that the Adeniyi affair is more than something to glance at, hum about, and continue on after forgetting. It should become a reason for real institutional reform.