Civil servants describe idle months at disowned federal agency
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Civil servants deployed to work under Adeniyi Adeyemi, the disowned director general of a Nigerian federal agency, say they were never given assignments during their time there, according to police statements cited in a Premium Times report.
The Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council operated out of the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja for months in 2025 despite being included in the 2026 budget, before the government declared it fake. Adeyemi is accused of forging his own appointment letter as well as other approval documents, and faces an eight-count forgery and impersonation charge before the Federal High Court. He has denied the allegations and said he will contest them in court.
He has accused Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, of lying and corruption; Gbajabiamila was the first official to publicly disown Adeyemi and the agency.
Court documents show Adeyemi faces up to 21 years in prison without the option of a fine on each of seven counts, and up to three years or a fine on an eighth. A police investigation also alleges Adeyemi forged several approval letters and letterhead, including one used to request accountants and auditors from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
Three civil servants from that office — Ojo Victor, Omeh Amarachukwu and Wakili Saidu — were deployed to the agency and later listed as witnesses in the case against Adeyemi. In statements given to police on Nov. 10, 2025, all three said they had never heard of the agency before being posted there.
According to the statements, Adeyemi requested their deployment in two letters dated April 4, 2025, addressed to the accountant general’s office. The three having submitted their posting letters to Adeyemi on Sept. 1, 2025, were asked to resume the following week. When they arrived, they were placed together in a shared office without any assigned duties or documentation.
Victor, a 55-year-old assistant chief accountant, said he was never given a schedule and visited the office only once or twice a week to make an appearance.
Amarachukwu, an internal auditor, said he went in about once a week because there was no work to do.
Saidu, who works in the audit department, said he reported three days a week but had no further communication with Adeyemi since resuming.
