President Bola Tinubu has ordered a sweeping investigation into the activities of a fake presidential body after the discovery of an alleged scheme that exploited forged government documents and official identities to gain legitimacy.
The President directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to complete the investigation within 30 days, with a mandate extending beyond the principal suspect to uncover institutional failures that allowed the alleged fraud to thrive.
The directive, announced Tuesday in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, followed revelations that the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) had no legal existence and was never established by the Federal Government.
Rather than limiting the probe to the alleged impersonator, President Tinubu ordered investigators to determine how the fictitious organisation managed to project itself as an official government institution.
According to the Presidency, the investigation will examine the use of forged appointment letters and other government documents, the opening and operation of bank accounts in the names of purported government agencies, attempts to obtain diplomatic recognition and visa facilitation, as well as the movement of funds linked to the operation.
The ICPC has also been directed to identify all individuals and institutions that may have knowingly or unknowingly facilitated the scheme, including public officials, financial institutions, intermediaries and private persons.
A key aspect of the investigation will be identifying procedural and institutional loopholes that enabled the alleged fraud.
The President specifically instructed the anti-corruption agency to recommend immediate reforms that would prevent similar cases of impersonation, document forgery and abuse of official identity.
To ensure a comprehensive investigation, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been ordered to provide the ICPC with every document and record required to conclude the probe within the stipulated timeframe.
The Presidency said the case underscores the need to strengthen safeguards around official appointments and government institutions against criminal exploitation.
President Tinubu reaffirmed that his administration would not tolerate any attempt to impersonate the Presidency or manipulate public institutions for personal gain.
He stressed that anyone found culpable at the conclusion of the investigation should face prosecution in accordance with the law.
The alleged mastermind of the scheme, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is accused of falsely presenting himself as the Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and claiming to hold a presidential appointment despite the council having no constitutional, statutory or executive basis.