The embattled Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, has defended the establishment of the organisation, saying it was created to attract foreign investment and project Nigeria positively rather than for personal gain.
Matthew made the clarification during a video conversation with social media influencer Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, on Wednesday, amid the growing controversy surrounding the council, which the Presidency has disowned.
He maintained that his motivation was to support President Bola Tinubu's administration by encouraging foreign investors to see Nigeria as an attractive investment destination.
According to him, his ambition was to leave a lasting legacy through service to the country, insisting that the money allegedly spent on setting up the council was driven by patriotism rather than personal enrichment.
"I wanted to attract foreign investors to Nigeria and make the country a preferred investment destination. Everything I did was out of passion to serve my country," he said.
Matthew also distanced himself from the controversial budget allocation to the council, claiming he neither prepared nor defended any budget before the National Assembly.
He disclosed that he was in police detention for 23 days during the period the 2026 budget was reportedly prepared and defended, making it impossible for him to influence the appropriation process.
Questioning the Presidency's position that the council never existed, Matthew wondered how an agency allegedly unknown to the government secured an allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
He revealed that former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had questioned him over the circumstances surrounding his appointment and that he provided investigators with the identity and contact of the individual who facilitated his appointment letter before he was detained.
Matthew further claimed that by the time he regained freedom in November 2025, he had already been arraigned in court and the office initially allocated to the council had been reassigned to another government official.
Addressing allegations involving the President's Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, he admitted speaking with him on the telephone through his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola, but denied holding any physical meeting with him over the matter.
He added that he possesses documents supporting the establishment of the council and pledged to submit them to the police and the Department of State Services to assist ongoing investigations.
According to him, the friend who allegedly financed the establishment of the agency later died in a fire incident at a hotel in Utako, Abuja.
The controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council intensified after the council appeared as one of the beneficiaries in the 2026 federal budget despite the Presidency insisting that no such agency was created or approved by President Tinubu.
Following public outrage, the President directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate how the council was included in the appropriation law and identify everyone responsible for the alleged budget insertion for possible prosecution.
Matthew had earlier been arrested and arraigned on allegations bordering on forgery, impersonation and related offences but has consistently maintained that all documents in his possession were legitimately obtained.
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