PFIPC DG Claims He Never Met Gbajabiamila, Says Agency’s Budget Inclusion Happened After His Arrest

Prince Adeyemi Matthew Adeniyi, the embattled Director-General of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has claimed he had no role in the agency’s eventual appearance in the Federal Government’s budget, insisting the process ended once he was arrested. Speaking in an interview with social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, Adeniyi said he was later stunned to hear the organisation had been captured in the appropriation.

He explained that his only involvement was lobbying officials at the Budget Office to consider the proposed agency. According to him, he submitted the necessary documents in December 2024 but was informed that the 2025 budget had already been finalised. He said officials indicated the proposal would instead be considered for a future appropriation, but events took a different turn after his arrest. “Immediately there was a problem, everything stopped… I didn’t even know until they said it was inside the budget,” he said.

Adeniyi denied bribing anyone during the process, saying no money exchanged hands with Budget Office officials. He admitted, however, that he promised to consider some of them for employment if the agency eventually became operational, maintaining that this was the only commitment he made.

He also dismissed suggestions that the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, influenced the budgetary allocation, insisting he handled all dealings with the Budget Office himself. According to Adeniyi, he never met Gbajabiamila at any stage and therefore could not link him to the agency’s inclusion in the budget.

On allegations that he paid N400 million to facilitate his appointment, Adeniyi alleged the money was delivered in US dollars through his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola. He said Tanimola acted as the intermediary throughout the process but admitted he could not confirm whether the money ever reached the Chief of Staff. “I never met Gbajabiamila physically before and after he was appointed. Dolapo Tanimola handled everything for me,” he said.

The interview adds another layer to the controversy surrounding the PFIPC, with Adeniyi maintaining that his legal troubles brought every effort to establish the agency to a halt, leaving unanswered questions about how it eventually found its way into the Federal Government’s budget.