Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the embattled Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has defended the establishment of the agency, saying it was conceived to attract foreign investment into Nigeria and project the country positively rather than serve any personal interest.
Matthew made the remarks during a video conversation with social media influencer Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, as controversy continues over the council, which the Presidency has described as a non-existent government agency.
He also denied any involvement in the inclusion of the PFIPC in the 2026 Appropriation Act, claiming he was in police detention while the budget was being prepared and considered by the National Assembly.
According to him, the objective behind setting up the council was to complement government efforts at promoting Nigeria as an attractive destination for international investors.
"I established that office out of passion for the country. I wanted to bring in foreign investors to Nigeria so that I can write my name in gold. I am just desperate to serve," he said.
He added that the council was working with ministries, departments and agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to improve Nigeria's investment profile before the controversy erupted.
Matthew also questioned the Presidency's decision to disown the council despite its appearance in the federal budget.
"This whole thing is confusing, especially when the Presidency said the agency does not exist. How come? The agency found its way into the national budget. I didn't prepare any budget," he said.
The embattled official maintained that he could not have influenced the budget process because he was in detention between October and November 2025, when the budget was reportedly prepared and defended.
He disclosed that he had earlier been invited by the then Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to explain how he became associated with the agency.
According to him, he gave investigators the identity and telephone number of the individual who facilitated his appointment before he was detained.
Matthew further claimed that after his release on November 19, 2025, he discovered he had already been charged to court and that the office previously allocated to the council had been reassigned to another government official.
Addressing allegations involving the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Matthew denied meeting him over the controversy but admitted speaking with him by telephone through a now deceased associate, Dolapo Tanimola.
He insisted that he possesses documents supporting the establishment of the council and pledged to hand them over to security agencies.
"Any moment from now, I will go to the police and DSS to submit every document that I have to support the investigation," he said.
Matthew also claimed that Tanimola, whom he said financed the establishment of the agency, later died in a fire incident at a hotel in Utako, Abuja.
The PFIPC came under public scrutiny after it appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act as a beneficiary of federal funds despite the Presidency insisting that no such agency exists under the Federal Government.
The development prompted the Presidency to distance itself from the council, maintaining that President Bola Tinubu neither approved its establishment nor appointed anyone to head it.
The Chief of Staff subsequently petitioned security agencies over the alleged impersonation of the Presidency and the use of forged official documents, leading to Matthew's arrest and prosecution on charges bordering on forgery, impersonation and related offences.
Matthew has consistently denied the allegations, insisting that all documents relating to his appointment were legitimately obtained.
Following the controversy, President Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate how the agency was included in the 2026 budget and ordered that anyone found culpable be prosecuted.
The Senate has also distanced itself from the controversy.
Senate spokesperson Yemi Adaramodu said the National Assembly neither created nor inserted the budgetary allocation for the PFIPC, adding that lawmakers were not constitutionally responsible for verifying the authenticity of appointments into ministries, departments and agencies.
The controversy has continued to generate public debate, with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party calling for an independent forensic investigation into the circumstances surrounding the agency's creation and its inclusion in the national budget.
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