Prince Adeyemi Matthew Adeniyi, the embattled promoter of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has claimed that he actively lobbied officials of the Budget Office to secure the agency's inclusion in the 2026 Federal Government budget.
Adeniyi made the assertion during an interview with social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, in a video released on Instagram after his arrest.
The PFIPC, which the Presidency has described as a non-existent government agency, was allocated about ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, sparking widespread controversy and calls for an investigation into Nigeria's budget process.
In the interview, Adeniyi denied allegations that the President's Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, facilitated the budgetary allocation, insisting that he had never met the presidential aide.
He claimed that his efforts to secure budgetary funding began in December 2024, when he approached the Budget Office for the inclusion of the agency in the 2025 budget.
According to him, officials informed him that the budget process had already been concluded and advised him to pursue the proposal for the 2026 fiscal year instead.
Adeniyi alleged that he subsequently maintained contact with some Budget Office officials and was introduced to senior officers handling the appropriation process.
He further claimed that while the proposal could not be accommodated in the 2025 budget, he was assured that efforts would continue ahead of the 2026 budget cycle.
The embattled promoter denied bribing any official to facilitate the process, saying the only commitment he made was to consider offering employment opportunities to people recommended by the officials if the agency eventually commenced operations.
He said his legal troubles interrupted further engagement with the Budget Office and expressed surprise when he later discovered that the agency had been captured in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Asked how the allocation eventually appeared in the budget, Adeniyi said he could not explain the development because he had already abandoned the process following his arrest.
He also addressed allegations that he paid ₦400 million to secure his purported appointment, claiming that the money was delivered in United States dollars through his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola.
Despite the allegation, he maintained that he never had any direct meeting with Gbajabiamila and insisted that all his dealings were handled through Tanimola.
Following the publication of the interview, VeryDarkMan called for a wider investigation into the Budget Office and other relevant government institutions, arguing that Adeniyi should not be the only person subjected to scrutiny if the allegations are substantiated.
The allegations made by Adeniyi have not been independently verified, and the Budget Office, the officials mentioned and other government institutions had not publicly responded to the claims as of the time of filing this report.
Adeniyi is currently facing charges of forgery and impersonation after allegedly presenting himself as Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, an agency the Federal Government has consistently maintained does not exist.
Investigators alleged that he operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja using forged government documents, including a purported appointment letter allegedly linked to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
The appearance of the agency in the 2026 budget despite its disputed legal status has continued to generate public concern, with many stakeholders calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the ₦1.3 billion allocation.
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