PFIPC scandal: I’ve never met Gbajabiamila, says Adeyemi
Mathew Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled Director General of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has denied ever holding a face-to-face meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Speaking from an undisclosed location during an interview with social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), Adeyemi said he could neither confirm nor dismiss the Chief of Staff’s involvement in the controversy surrounding the alleged agency.
His remarks come days after Gbajabiamila’s lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), threatened legal action over allegations linking the presidential aide to the matter.
In the 16-minute, 26-second conversation obtained on Tuesday, VDM explained that Adeyemi had initially contacted him and that he returned the call after identifying the caller.
At the start of the interview, VDM asked, “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 answered, “No.”
VDM then asked, “Did you speak on the phone to discuss this whole thing?”
Adeyemi said, “Yes, like three times I’ve once spoken to him through my late friend, Dolapo Tanimola.”
Questioning the authenticity of the calls, VDM asked, “How are you sure it was Gbaja? Did you speak to him on video call? Anybody could have collected that phone.”
Adeyemi replied, “No, it was not on video call.”
He also affirmed VDM’s statement that every financial transaction linked to the matter was conducted through his late associate.
When VDM suggested that Gbajabiamila’s denial could be genuine, saying, “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 responded, “Of course! Yes.”
Asked whether he believed the Chief of Staff was being truthful or deceptive, Adeyemi said, “I wouldn’t say he is lying and I wouldn’t say he is saying the truth.”
He maintained that the uncertainty surrounding the allegations was why he had appealed to President Bola Tinubu to order a formal investigation.
Adeyemi is currently facing trial over his alleged involvement in operating the PFIPC, an organisation the Presidency has described as non-existent. The case has been adjourned until July 14, 2026, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
During a press conference on June 25, 2026, Adeyemi alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded 48 per cent of the council’s purported N27.4 billion take-off grant—an amount he estimated at about N12.5 billion—and separately accused him of receiving N400 million connected to appointments associated with the agency.
Gbajabiamila, through his counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), denied all the allegations, insisting he had never communicated with Adeyemi, directly or indirectly. The lawyer also threatened a N10 billion defamation lawsuit over the bribery, murder and other criminal allegations made against his client.
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