The Presidency has described the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) as a fraudulent scheme, insisting that discrepancies in an appointment letter allegedly used by its promoters exposed it as a forgery.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said a telephone number appearing on the disputed State House letterhead was one of the clearest indications that the document was fabricated.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Friday, Ajayi said the authentic State House letterhead does not carry any contact telephone number, contrary to the document being circulated by Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man at the centre of the PFIPC controversy.
“On the genuine State House letterhead, there is no contact telephone number. On the purported appointment letter, however, there is one,” Ajayi said.
According to him, anyone conversant with presidential procedures would immediately recognise the discrepancy.
“So anybody who understands how the system works will know this is a pure scam and a forged document,” he stated.
Ajayi also dismissed claims that a letter of appointment could legitimately emanate directly from the office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
He maintained that appointments into federal agencies and extra-ministerial offices are made solely by the President and communicated through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“You have been covering the State House for a number of years, and we all know that the Chief of Staff does not make appointments. It is the President who makes appointments into agencies or extra-ministerial positions,” he said.
Ajayi explained that the Chief of Staff only conveys presidential approvals to the SGF, which subsequently issues official appointment letters.
“What the Chief of Staff does is convey the President’s approval to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. It is the office of the SGF that issues the appointment letter to appointees,” he added.
He described the letter allegedly brandished by Adeyemi as procedurally defective.
“So, procedurally, it is even wrong for anyone to go about brandishing a letter of appointment originating from the office of the Chief of Staff. That is the first red flag,” Ajayi said.
He also acknowledged the possibility that insiders may have assisted the suspect in operating from within the Federal Secretariat.
“Even the audacity to go and operate inside the government’s Federal Secretariat is enough to suggest that something could have gone wrong at some point,” he said.
Adeyemi is facing an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery and impersonation before the Federal High Court in Abuja alongside two other suspects identified as Femi and Anu, who are currently at large.
He was arrested on October 27, 2025, after security agencies received petitions over the activities of the council.
The Presidency had earlier disowned the PFIPC, with Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila publicly declaring on June 11 that the body has no legal or official status.
Investigators have alleged that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts linked to fictitious government agencies while posing as director-general of the non-existent council.
Despite the allegations, Adeyemi has insisted that his appointment was genuine and says he is prepared to face trial.
The case is expected to resume before the Federal High Court on July 27, 2026.
