Fake agency: How I lobbied officials to insert N1.3bn into 2026 budget — Adeniyi

The embattled Director-General of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Prince Adeyemi Matthew Adeniyi, has claimed that he personally lobbied officials of the Budget Office to secure the inclusion of the controversial agency in the 2026 Federal Government budget.

Adeniyi made the claim in an interview with social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, in a video released on Instagram after his arrest.

The alleged agency, which the Federal Government has described as non-existent, was allocated about ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, triggering widespread controversy and ongoing investigations.

In the interview, Adeniyi denied implicating the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, insisting he had never met him in person.

According to him, he first approached the Budget Office in December 2024 to seek the agency’s inclusion in the 2025 budget but was informed that the appropriation process had already closed.

“I submitted the letter and everything I wanted, but I was told it was already late,” he said.

He claimed officials later advised him that the proposal would instead be considered for the 2026 budget and that he maintained contact with them throughout the process.

Adeniyi further alleged that a female official introduced him to the Director-General of the Budget Office, who later referred him to another senior official to continue discussions on the proposal.

He maintained that although efforts were made to include the agency in the 2025 budget, it was eventually deferred to the 2026 appropriation.

Asked whether he paid any official to facilitate the process, Adeniyi denied offering bribes, saying he only promised to assist with employment opportunities once the agency became operational.

“I did not pay anybody. The only thing I promised was that if I started employing people, I could help them with employment opportunities,” he said.

He claimed that after his arrest, all discussions regarding the budget stopped and expressed surprise when he later discovered that the agency had been included in the 2026 budget.

“I didn’t even know until they said it was inside the budget. I had already left the office. Where would I still pursue the budget again when I was already facing court?” he said.

Adeniyi also addressed allegations that he paid $400 million to secure his purported appointment, claiming the funds were delivered in United States dollars through his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola.

He, however, insisted that he never met Gbajabiamila, maintaining that all dealings relating to his appointment were handled by Tanimola.

In a caption accompanying the interview, VeryDarkMan called for a thorough investigation into the Budget Office and other government institutions, arguing that Adeniyi should not be the only person investigated if his allegations are substantiated.

The allegations have not been independently verified, and the officials and institutions mentioned had yet to respond to the claims as of the time of filing this report.

Adeniyi is currently facing charges of forgery and impersonation over his alleged operation of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, which the Presidency has described as a fictitious organisation. Despite lacking legal backing, the agency appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation of about ₦1.3 billion, prompting investigations into how it was included in the federal budget.