Police investigators have exposed a sprawling forgery scheme centred on a fake government agency that never existed. The Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, or PFIPC, was a phantom operation built entirely on forged documents and impersonation.
A police interim investigation report, released following a petition from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, laid bare how the scam operated. The report documented how fraudsters created counterfeit appointment letters and official documents to give the impression of legitimacy.
The investigation began after the Chief of Staff's office alerted the Inspector-General of Police on October 17, 2025, about suspicious forged correspondence. Police found that the fake documents bore falsified signatures, fabricated reference numbers, counterfeit official seals, and unauthorised replicas of the Nigerian Coat of Arms.
Investigators identified Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew as the principal suspect in the scheme. He presented himself as the Director-General of the non-existent council and ran operations from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
The suspect allegedly held meetings with both Nigerian citizens and international visitors while posing as a government official. He even wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting a Note Verbale to the United States Embassy to facilitate visa applications for purported council staff.
Police arrested Mathew on October 27, 2025, at the office where he'd been operating the scheme. Officers then executed search warrants at his office and his residence in APC Quarters, Suleja, Niger State.
Investigators recovered forged appointment letters, fake letterheads, and correspondence addressed to various government ministries, departments and agencies. The recovered materials provided crucial evidence of the extensive fraud operation.
During questioning, Mathew claimed that one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola had helped him obtain the purported appointment letter naming him Director-General. However, police discovered that Tanimola had died in a fire at Kachi Hotel, Utako, Abuja, before Mathew's arrest.
Investigators verified Tanimola's death by interviewing his sister, the hotel proprietor, staff from the National Hospital Abuja, and officials at St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Maitama.
Their accounts corroborated the circumstances of his death.
Police contacted the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to obtain a certified copy of the purported appointment letter used in the scheme. They also summoned officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for questioning.
Three staff members posted from the Accountant-General's office to the fake PFIPC office told investigators they'd been assigned there on August 28, 2025. Despite their posting, they said they performed no official duties throughout their time there.
The investigation revealed how brazen the operation had become. Financial investigations into the scheme remained ongoing at the time the report was compiled.
