The embattled Director General of the now-disputed Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, has defended the creation of the agency, saying it was driven by his desire to improve Nigeria’s global image and attract foreign investments.
Matthew made the clarification during a video call with social media activist, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, on Wednesday.
He explained that the council was established out of his passion to contribute to Nigeria’s development and support President Bola Tinubu’s administration, rather than for personal gains.
According to him, he was also unaware that the agency had been allocated funds in the national budget passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by the President.
“I established that amount (rumoured N400 million) for the agency’s office out of passion for the country. I wanted to bring in foreign investors to Nigeria so that I can write my name in gold. I am just desperate to serve.
That’s the reason I paid the money. I just want to do my part for the country. That agency was established to bring in foreign investments to Nigeria and make Nigeria a preferred destination for foreign investors.
“I walk around the inter-ministerial agencies and partner with the MDAs and EFCC to make Nigeria a preferred world destination for investments. So, it’s not about personal interest. Before this whole brouhaha, we were expecting the world to be in Nigeria through our forthcoming global summit.”
Reacting to the Presidency’s claim that the council was not a recognised government agency, Matthew said the situation remained unclear to him, questioning how an organisation allegedly unknown to the government could appear in the national budget.
“This whole thing is confusing especially when the Presidency said that the agency does not exist. How come? The agency that found its way into the national budget. I didn’t prepare any budget. In fact, I was in detention for 23 days when the budget for the Presidential Foreign Council was prepared and defended in the National Assembly between October and November.
The former Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had invited me to explain how I came about the agency from the Chief of Staff to the President. I gave him the name and number of the person that facilitated the appointment letter for me. I was thereafter detained.
“How come the budget that nobody defended still found its way into the national budget? By the time I came out on November 19, 2025, I was charged to court and they said the same office space had been reallocated to another government official. So I’ve not been going to the office since that October 27.”
Addressing claims that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, petitioned against him, Matthew said he did not personally meet with Gbajabiamila over the matter but acknowledged that he spoke with him on the phone through his late friend, Dolapo Tanimola.
He maintained that he possesses documents supporting the establishment of the council and expressed willingness to provide them to investigators.
He added that he was prepared to surrender himself to security agencies for further clarification.
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“Any moment from now, I will go to the police and DSS to submit every document that I have to support the investigation. My friend (Tanimola), who paid the money for the establishment of the agency, is now dead in a fire accident in a hotel in Utako, Abuja.”
The controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council emerged after the council was listed as a beneficiary in the 2026 Appropriation Act, despite the Presidency’s position that the agency was not created by the Federal Government.
The development sparked public debate over how an organisation that was later disowned by the Presidency was included in the budget process.
The Presidency subsequently stated that President Bola Tinubu neither authorised the creation of the council nor appointed Matthew as its head.
Following the controversy, Gbajabiamila petitioned security agencies over allegations of impersonation and the use of documents allegedly linked to the Presidency.
The Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies launched investigations, after which Matthew was arrested and detained before being arraigned on allegations including forgery, impersonation and related offences.
Matthew has continued to deny wrongdoing, insisting that the documents in his possession were legitimately obtained.
Amid the growing concerns over the council’s appearance in the federal budget, President Tinubu reportedly directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate how the allocation was included despite the agency’s lack of official recognition.
The President also ordered that anyone found responsible for the alleged budget insertion should be identified and prosecuted, while relevant authorities work to uncover how the controversial allocation entered the 2026 Appropriation Act.