Nigeria probes fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Council scandal

Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew allegedly created a fictitious agency called the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (also referred to as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council). The agency appeared in the 2026 national budget with an allocation of about N1.3 billion, opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, secured office space in the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, hired staff and held meetings with ministers, ambassadors and other officials.

The Nigerian Presidency denies the agency exists, and President Bola Tinubu’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, has been named as an alleged accomplice. Matthew claims the council was intended to attract foreign investment and that he was unaware of the budget entry, noting he was detained for 23 days while the appropriation was prepared. The controversy has revived concerns over job‑racketeering, corruption in public appointments and the credibility of Tinubu’s administration, echoing earlier UNODC findings that a large share of Nigerian public‑service hires involve bribery.