The beleaguered Director-General (DG) of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Prince Adeyemi Matthew Adeniyi, said that he personally advocated the inclusion of the organisation in the federal government’s budget before his detention.
Adeniyi made the charges during an interview with social media influencer, Martins Vincent Otse also known as VeryDarkMan (VDM in a recording leaked following his detention.
Adeniyi told the interview that he approached officials of the Budget Office in December 2024 to request the inclusion of the PFIPC in the 2025 Appropriation Bill but was told the process of budget preparation had concluded, The Guardian writes.
Budget Office officials then told him that the suggestion could be considered in the 2026 budget cycle, he said.
“I went to that Budget Office for the 2025 budget. I submitted the letter and all I wanted, but was told it was already late,” Adeniyi said.
“The officials told me that because the proposal was not in the 2025 budget, they would continue to try to get it in the 2026 appropriation,” he said.
Adeniyi further said that a female official helped him to go into the office of the Director-General of the Budget Office and then he was taken to another Director to discuss the plan.
He says that communications stopped after his detention and the legal issues that followed.
“Straight away there was a problem, everything stopped. Even the woman who wanted to help was calling because she couldn’t contact me. “I told her to let everything stop,” he claimed.
“I stopped all efforts on the proposed agency after I was arrested and was surprised to later find out that it had apparently found its way into the budget,” the unhappy PFIPC DG said.
Until they said, I didn’t realise it was within the budget. I’d already left the office. “I’m already in court, where else would I go for the budget?” he replied.
Adeniyi has refuted claims that he paid officials to expedite the process, saying he did not make any cash payments but merely promised possible employment chances if the firm eventually became operational.
Actually I didn’t pay for it. “I didn’t pay anybody. The only thing I promised was that if I started employing individuals I could help them with employment opportunities,” he said.
Adeniyi also responded to the claims that N400million was paid to the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to help his installation, saying that the money was sent in United States dollars through a partner, the late Dolapo Tanimola.
But he stated he could not directly verify who eventually received the monies.
The beleaguered DG of PFIPC denied ever meeting with the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila before or after his appointment, claiming Tanimola handled all conversations on his behalf.
“I am not sure I have met Gbajabiamila physically before and after his appointment. “Dolapo Tanimola did everything for me,” he claimed.
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