Adeyemi’s appointment letter didn’t originate from presidency — ICPC

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has declared that the appointment letter used by the self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew, was forged and did not originate from the Presidency.

ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), disclosed this on Thursday while briefing journalists in Abuja after submitting the commission’s interim report on the PFIPC investigation to President Bola Tinubu.

Aliyu said the investigation, ordered by the President on July 7 and completed within the 30-day deadline, established that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government or any authorised institution.

He also confirmed that the PFIPC was never created by any Act of the National Assembly, executive order or any valid government instrument.

According to the ICPC chairman, investigators found that Adeyemi relied on forged appointment letters and other falsified official documents to operate the fictitious agency.

“The fake appointment letter of Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew did not originate from the Presidency,” Aliyu stated.

He further revealed that the fake agency unlawfully took over offices and operational assets belonging to the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), using them to impersonate government institutions and carry out fraudulent activities.

Aliyu said the commission uncovered widespread impersonation, false representation and other illegal activities allegedly orchestrated by Adeyemi, adding that gaps in inter-agency verification, oversight and administrative processes were exploited with what he described as negligence and possible connivance by some public officials.

The ICPC chairman, however, stressed that investigations found no evidence that Federal Government funds were approved or disbursed to the fake PFIPC or the former PEAC.

He also cleared the Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria of any institutional wrongdoing, saying investigators found no weaknesses in their internal systems.

As part of the investigation, the commission uncovered two additional fictitious government agencies allegedly created by Adeyemi — the FCT Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public Private Partnership (FIPA-PPP).

Aliyu said forged documents presented as enabling Acts were used to facilitate the creation of the fake agencies and to open bank accounts for their operations.

He disclosed that the commission had recommended Adeyemi’s prosecution, disciplinary sanctions against public officers whose actions or negligence enabled the operation of the fake agency, and broader institutional reforms to prevent similar incidents.

The ICPC boss added that investigations remain ongoing into the activities, financial transactions and bank accounts linked to the PFIPC, Adeyemi and other suspected collaborators as the commission works towards filing criminal charges.