The self-acclaimed Director-General of the illegal Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, Mathew Adeniyi Adeyemi, has denied ever meeting with Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
The fugitive Adeyemi, who spoke to activist Martins Vincent Otse popularly known as VeryDarkBlackMan (VDM) from his hiding, also said he could not categorically confirm or deny Gbajabiamila’s involvement in the scandal surrounding the PFIPC.
Adeyemi’s denial are coming about 72 hours after Gbajabiamila’s lawyers, Kemi Pinhero LP, issued legal threats against him over allegations made against the Chief of Staff.
At the beginning of the 16:26 minute-video clip of the online conversation between the duo obtained on Tuesday, VDM noted that Adeyemi called him earlier and he (VDM) called back after realising it was the fugitive.
Interviewing Adeyemi, VDM said, “Let’s start with this: did you at any point in time meet with Femi Gbaja one-on-one to discuss this whole thing?”
Responding, Adeyemi said “no.”
VDM also asked him, “Did you speak on the phone to discuss this whole thing?”
Adeyemi replied, “Yes, like three times I’ve once spoken to him through my late friend, Dolapo Tanimola.”
Expressing the possibility of impersonation at the other end of the phone calls, VDM asked Adeyemi, “How are you sure it was Gbaja? Did you speak to him on video call? Anybody could have collected that phone.”
Adeyemi said, “No, it was not on video call.”
The purported DG of PFIPC also responded in the affirmative when VDM asked him to confirm if “every transaction that was done was through your friend and that your friend is late.”
When VDM said, “If the Chief of Staff is coming to say he is not the one, it is possible (that he is not). In Nigeria, anything can happen,” Adeyemi replied, “Of course! Yes.”
As VDM also asked Adeyemi if there was a possibility that Gbajabiamila doesn’t know anything about the fraud and if the Chief of Staff had lied, the ‘fake DG’ said, “I wouldn’t say he is lying and I wouldn’t say he is saying the truth.”
Adeyemi added that it was the reason why he urged President Tinubu to order an investigation of the scandal.
Adeyemi, who is facing criminal trial adjourned to July 14, 2026 in the federal high court, Abuja over his alleged role in operating the council, a body the Presidency says is fictitious, had at a press conference on June 25, 2026, accused Gbajabiamila of demanding a 48 per cent share of the PFIPC’s alleged N27.4 billion take-off grant, amounting to about N12.5 billion.
The self-acclaimed DG of the PFIPC also accused Gbajabiamila of receiving N400 million in connection with appointments linked to the entity, among other allegations.
Gbajabiamila, through his lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), however, denied the allegations and maintained that he had never had any contact with Adeyemi. The Chief of Staff also threatened a N10 billion defamation suit over claims linking him to bribery, murder and other criminal conduct.
President Tinubu, on Tuesday, ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the scandal and report back within 30 days.
Adeyemi also promised to turn himself in to the police or dss after the interview with Martins Vincent (VDM), it is unclear if he has appeared before any of the security agencies as at the time of filing this report.
FULL TRANSCRIPT ONLINE INTERVIEW BETWEEN MARTINS VINCENT OTSE (VDM) and ADEYEMI ADENIYI MATHEW ON TUESDAY JULY 7, 2026
Adeyemi:
No be small thing o. That is why I said let me reach out to you so I can make some clarifications about the brouhaha going on in Nigeria today.
VDM: So, go on!
Adeyemi:
Yeah! You see… this whole thing is confusing as in, very, very confusing. When the Presidency through the Chief of Staff (to the President) said the person does not exist, I wondered, ‘how come?’ The agency that found its way into the national budget, how? That both the Senate where we have so many experienced senators, 360 members of (the House of) Representatives would detect that this is a fake agency; then (the budget) transmitted to the President to assent (sic) his signature, how could his Chief of Staff not be aware that the said agency is inside the budget? That is why I’m confused and that is what gave me the audacity to come out to do a rebuttal of his disclaimer like two weeks ago.
VDM:
The fact that, that budget… that agency that they said does not exist found its way into the national budget means there is something going on. And you are saying you are very confused. So, I have questions for you. You were the DG of this said agency. At some point, were you the one that prepared the budget?
Adeyemi:
No, sir. I’m not the one because when the preparations for budget (started), I was invited by the Nigeria Police Force, Department of Monitoring.
VDM: Which year was it?
Adeyemi: 2025
VDM: Who was the IG then?
Adeyemi: IGP Egbetokun
VDM: Okay, go on.
Adeyemi: So, I was invited to come and respond to a petition from the Chief of Staff to the President, questioning my activity of the said agency (sic). I honoured the invitation. They asked me so many questions: how the agency come to being. I gave them… I got the appointment letter from XYZ. ‘Who helped you to get the appointment letter?’ I gave them the number, the name, everything.
Now, back to your question, I was in detention.
VDM: Oh! They locked you up that day?
Adeyemi: For good 23 days. I was arrested or invited on the 27th of October and released on the 19th of November.
VDM: So, basically, that budget that appeared in the national budget, it was not you that prepared it.
Adeyemi: I was in detention. That was the period for the preparation of budget.
VDM: That means it was not you or your people that prepared the budget.
Adeyemi: I did not and nobody went for the defence. That is why I’m confused that, how come that the budget that nobody defended it could still find its way to the national budget. By the time I came out of the detention on the 19th, I was charged to court on the 27th of November and the said office space had been reallocated to another government official. So, I’ve not been going to the office since that 27th of October. That is why I’m confused that, how did the agency find its way into the national budget?
VDM: Femi Gbaja was the one that wrote the petition against you. It takes somebody very influential to get that that budget to the national level. So, whether they like it or not, it has been established that, that agency actually existed. Yet, what we all need to put heads together to find out: there is corruption somewhere – 100 per cent, there is corruption. But now, I want to understand some few things. Let’s start with this: did you at any point in time meet with Femi Gbaja one-on-one to discuss this whole thing?
Adeyemi: No.
VDM: Did you speak on the phone to discuss this whole thing?
Adeyemi: Yes, like three times I’ve once spoken to him through my late friend, Dolapo Tanimola.
VDM: How are you sure it was Gbaja? Did you speak to him on video call? Anybody could have collected that phone.
Adeyemi: No, it was not on video call.
VDM: So, every transaction that was done was through your friend and that your friend is late.
Adeyemi: Yes.
VDM: Do you have all the documents as to all these things that you are talking about, posted online.
Adeyemi: Yes.
VDM: So, something is definitely wrong somewhere but the truth is that, that agency… there is no way anybody will tell me the agency does not exist because they must explain… It is somebody (who is) powerful and influential that might have put that thing there. Everybody’s office that needs to be investigated. If the Chief of Staff is coming to say he is not the one, it is possible (that he is not). In Nigeria, anything can happen.
Adeyemi: Of course! Yes.
VDM: Do you think there is a possibility that he doesn’t know anything about it, or do you think he is lying.
Adeyemi: I wouldn’t say he is lying and I wouldn’t say he is saying the truth. That is why I requested… if you saw it from my press conference, I said I plead with Mr President to set up an investigative panel to look into this whole issue and unravel the truth, so we would know who are (those) involved.
VDM: That is a good one. Now, what is your next step? What do you want to do now about this case? What are you going to do now?
Adeyemi:
I am willing and ready to help security agencies or panel set up by Mr President to unravel the truth. In fact, any moment from now, I will go to the DSS or Police to submit all the documents I have. It would help them to investigate and look into this matter.
VDM: I like that. So, you will just go on your own, like that.
Adeyemi: Of course! Since I don’t have… I will go. You will see. Any moment from now, I will go.
VDM: It will be good if you come to Abuja.
Adeyemi: Why not? I will come. You will see me. I will go to any DSS or police (office) to submit my documents… all what I have. They should authenticate it; they should verify it. Then, they should unravel the truth.
VDM: That will be a very good step to actually find out the people that are involved in all of this. Like I said, no matter what anybody wants to say in this country, somebody (who is) influential is behind all of this. It can be Gbaja; it is possible that it is not Gbaja. It is possible that it is some people in his office. It is possible that it is some other people in some other offices. And it is possible that it is him. So, your next step is the best: taking your evidence that you have with you and walking into a police station to say ‘take’. I like your idea. That is a very smart one. You go there and give it to them; to also assist them in the investigation. That is a very, very perfect thing to do.
I really don’t want to ask you about the money because, according to what I heard, they said you said you gave that money to your friend.
Adeyemi: Yes.
VDM: When was your friend killed?
Adeyemi: I wouldn’t say ‘killed’. Let me correct you. No investigation has revealed that he was killed. He was involved in a fire accident (sic) in an hotel at Utako.
VDM: Have you ever had aby attempt on your life before, anywhere, before this whole thing started?
Adeyemi: Yes. Precisely Sunday, 7th September, 2025, I was attacked at Zuma Rock along Zuba road. If you know Zuma Rock very close to Madalla, that is where I was attacked by gunmen, which I attached the video to my press release the other time.
VDM: That agency, what did you plan to do with it, because if you could spend N400million so that you go get that kind of office, how did you expect to make your money back? I feel like you all arranged the whole thing to get shares out of it. What was your plan?
Adeyemi: I don’t really have negative plans. It is all about passion for the country. That agency is to bring in foreign investments to Nigeria. I want to write my name in gold. That is why I have a passion. When you have a passion – let me use desperately to serve, you can do anything. That is the reason why I paid that money; that if that would be a stumbling block for me, let me just get and do my part for the country. So, that is just it. That agency is to bring foreign investments to Nigeria and make Nigeria a preferred destination for investment. You might have come across my little efforts. I have worked round the inter-ministerial agencies: I have worked with them, I partnered with the EFCC – virtually all the MDAs – to collaborate with them to make Nigeria the preferred world destination for investments. So, it is not about personal interests… to work around, even beyond the shores of Nigeria.
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