The Nigeria Police Force has uncovered how Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who allegedly posed as the Director-General of a non-existent government agency, spent about N400 million obtained under false pretences, according to an investigation report.
The Nation Newspaper, which obtained the police investigation report dated July 24, 2026, reported that Adeyemi allegedly used the money on personal vehicles, family members, personal expenses and other luxury-related activities.
The police investigation also revealed that the suspect allegedly obtained an additional N100 million loan from a microfinance bank to support his lifestyle.
Adeyemi had allegedly claimed that the N400 million was converted to dollars and handed over to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, through the late Babatunde Dolapo Tanimola. However, investigators said their analysis of his accounts did not support the claim.
The investigation further implicated five government officials, including two directors in the offices of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Others allegedly involved were a Special Assistant in the Budget Office, an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and a staff member seconded from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The police also questioned 22 other suspects whose names surfaced during the investigation.
The investigation followed allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery, impersonation, obtaining money under false pretences, theft of public funds and money laundering.
According to the report, the matter originated from a petition submitted by Gbajabiamila to security authorities over alleged fraudulent appointment letters purportedly issued in his name.
The police said the Inspector-General of Police subsequently directed its monitoring unit to investigate the allegations, leading to Adeyemi’s arrest on October 27, 2025.
The suspect was later charged before a court in November 2025 over alleged criminal conspiracy and forgery.
The investigation was subsequently expanded following another petition submitted by Gbajabiamila in June 2026, prompting the police to refer the matter to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre for further investigation.
The police said investigators obtained statements from the complainant and seven witnesses, while cautionary statements were also obtained from 22 suspects.
The report reads in part: “The Nigeria Police Force is investigating a case of alleged criminal conspiracy, forgery, impersonation, obtaining money under false pretences, theft of public funds and money laundering reported through a written petition No.SH/COS/80/A/42 dated 17th October, 2025 by Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, addressed to the Director-General, Department of State Services (DG DSS) which was copied to the Inspector-General of Police for action.
“In the letter of complaint, attention of the Director-General, DSS and the Inspector-General of Police was drawn to the activities of fraudsters and impostors forwarding official appointment letters purportedly from the Chief of Staff to the President.
“The Inspector-General of Police directed the IGP-Monitoring Unit to investigate the case.
“The IGP-Monitoring Unit immediately commenced investigation; arrested the principal suspect, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, Director-General of a fictitious Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC)/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) on 27th October, 2025.
“His statement was obtained under words of caution in which he claimed that he got the fake appointment letter from one Babatunde Dolapo Tanimola (late). The suspect was subsequently charged to Court in November, 2025 for the offences of Criminal Conspiracy and Forgery.
“The Inspector-General of Police also received petition letter No. SH/COS/80/A/50 dated 29th June, 2026 from the same complainant, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria against the same Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew.
“The complainant attached petition letters Nos. SH/COS/80/A/42 and SH/COS/80/A/45 dated 17th October, 2025 and 27th April, 2026 respectively, earlier addressed to the Director-General, Department of State Services.
“The petition was subsequently approved and referred to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC) through letter No. CB: 3380/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL.46/178 dated 1st July, 2026 for discreet investigation and report.
“The complainant, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, in his petition, made the following allegations:
(i) That one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew had been parading himself as the Director-General of a fictitious Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC)/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and that the Chief of Staff to the President signed the appointment letter purportedly appointing Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew as the Director-General of the Agency in question;
(ii) That the suspect used his fictitious capacity to secure an office in the Federal Secretariat Complex, FCT, Abuja;
(iii) That the suspect secured a recruitment waiver to employ about Three Hundred (300) staff through the office of the Head of Service of the Federation;
(iv) He also requested the inclusion and secured approximately One Billion, Three Hundred Million Naira (#1,300,000,000.00) for the said Agency in the 2026 Appropriation Act;
(v) That the suspect had further gone ahead to plan and arrange a World Investment Summit scheduled to take place in 2026.
“On receipt of the complaint, the investigative team commenced investigation by obtaining voluntary statement from the complainant, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.
“The team also obtained the complainant’s specimen signature, and he equally attached copies of some letters he signed sometimes in the year 2024, about the period the suspect claimed he was purportedly issued the suspected forged letters of appointment by the complainant as his known specimen signature for forensic analysis.
“Letters of investigation activities requesting for information were written and dispatched to the Permanent Secretary, State House, Offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Accountant-General of the Federation, Director-General Budget Office of the Federation, Head of Service of the Federation, Federal Ministries of Finance, Budget and Economy, the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Registrar, Supreme Court of Nigeria, Central Bank of Nigeria, Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Financial Institutions and National Hospital, Abuja.
The police said forensic experts were also engaged to examine disputed signatures on official documents allegedly used by Adeyemi.
The report stated: “The team also forwarded to the Forensic Section of the Force C.I.D, Abuja for analysis and report, the specimen signatures of the complainant, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President and one Mr. Segun Imohiosen, who denied signing certain disputed documents purportedly bearing their signatures.
“The team has so far obtained voluntary statements from the Complainant and Seven (7) witnesses. Also, cautionary statements were recorded from twenty-two (22) suspects, whose names appeared in the course of the investigation.
“These include the cautionary statement of the principal suspect, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew and statements obtained from officials of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies listed above.”
How N400m was allegedly spent
According to the police, account analysis showed that N380 million was paid into an account belonging to Adeyemi’s company in four instalments by Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited.
Investigators alleged that the company’s owner, Oyekunle Gbenga Collins, was induced to release the funds after being promised a N2.8bn contract for the renovation of an official residence allegedly allocated to Adeyemi’s office.
The report reads: “Analysis conducted on the principal suspect’s World Entre University Nigeria Ltd, GTBank account No. 0695674387 revealed that the suspect received the total sum of Three Hundred and Eighty Million Naira (N380,000,000.00) in four (4) tranches from Divine Dopacy Nigeria Ltd, a company owned by one Oyekunle Gbenga Collins, who was allegedly lured by the suspect to part with the funds under the false pretence of facilitating the award of a Two Billion, Eight Hundred Million Naira (#2,800.000,000.00) contract for renovation of an official residence allocated to the suspect by the EFCC.
“Further analysis on the account revealed that the suspect used the proceeds for the purchase of two (2) personal vehicles and equally transferred large sum from the proceeds to his personal accounts and other family members which was subsequently laundered against his claim of converting the total N400 million to USD and handed over to the complainant (Gbajabiamila) through late Babatunde Dolapo Tanimola.
“Analysis conducted on the principal suspect’s Sunshine Confectionary and Catering Services Access Bank Plc Account No. 1379777557 revealed that the suspect received the sum of N20 million from the same Divine Dopacy Nigeria Ltd owned by Oyekunle Gbenga Collins.
The suspect also laundered the proceeds through his personal expenses and donations as against his claim of converting the total N400 million to USD and handed over to the complainant through (the) late Babatunde Dolapo Tanimola.”
Forensic examination
The police said forensic examination of the documents allegedly used by Adeyemi established that signatures on some of them did not belong to the officials whose names appeared on the documents.
The police said: “Response letter No.CR: 3000/X/FCID/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.9/30 dated 18th March, 2026 from Handwriting Experts sent to the IGP-Monitoring Unit through Deputy-Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation letter No. (FCID) “CR:3000/X/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.324/76 dated 31st March, 2026 confirmed that the signatures on the disputed documents are not the same with the signature of the complainant. This confirms the purported letters of appointment were not issued by the complainant.
“One Mr. Segun Imohiosen, the former Director, Information and Public Relations, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation alleged to have signed Mandate and Terms of Reference for pioneering office of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council dated 6th January, 2025 reported on 17th July, 2026 and confirmed that he did not sign the purported document.
“He also confirmed that the signature in the purported document is not his signature and his office was not responsible for the issuance of mandate. He subsequently provided his specimen signature for forensic analysis.
“Investigation revealed that the Principal suspect, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew forged a letter of appointment purportedly signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and a purported Act establishing the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, CHAPTER N2117.
“The suspect fraudulently smuggled the forged documents to the Offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service of the Federation, Accountant-General of the Federation and Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation.
“The staff in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service of the Federation, Accountant-General of the Federation and Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation negligently processed and approved all requests made by the suspect which led to the fictitious agency getting Administrative Code, office space at the Federal Secretariat, official vehicles, Authorized Establishment, Administrative Waiver to recruit Three Hundred (300) Staff, Secondment of Officers, opening of two Accounts with the CBN, which include one (1) USD and one (1) GBP Accounts, Provisional Self-Accounting Status for six months and Inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation budget.
“The staff in these offices failed to conduct due diligence, thereby allowing the forged documents smuggled by the principal suspect to get approvals.
“It has also been established that the Request for Administrative Code for Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council purportedly written and signed by one Akanbi Adewale, Director, Administration and Support Services, State House did not emanate from the State House as investigation revealed that both the signatory and the Department have never existed in the organogram of the State House.
“The original copy of the response for the Administrative Code from office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, addressed to State House was mysteriously received by the principal suspect, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who is not a staff of State House.
“The principal suspect, Prince Adeyemi, allegedly used the fictitious agency to fraudulently award contract of (N2.87 billion) to refurbish a property allegedly allocated to his office by the EFCC, which enabled him to obtain the sum of N400 million from Gbenga Oyekunle Collins, as facilitation fee for the contract.
“He also took a loan of N100 million from a micro-finance bank and also obtained unspecified amounts of money from unsuspecting members of the public under the guise of issuing to them, Diplomatic Passports, Note-verbale and visas.
Police name five officials
The investigation also identified five government officials suspected of facilitating the alleged activities.
They include two directors from the offices of the Accountant-General of the Federation and Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, alongside a Special Assistant in the Budget Office, an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and a staff member seconded from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The report said: “Investigation further revealed that some key staff of ministries agencies played major role in facilitating the commission of the offences.”
The police said the investigation had entered its concluding stage, with an interim report forwarded to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
The report said: “The Force has forwarded an Interim Investigation Report to the Hon. Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federation requesting him to amend the previous charge filed by the Police Monitoring Unit, to include the newly established facts and the duplicate case file be forwarded to the Director Public Prosecution for vetting, advice and harmonization of all investigations by the various Agencies relating to the fake agency.
“The Force has also requested the Clerk of the National Assembly to respond to our letter of inquiry to shed light on circumstances surrounding the budget defence and subsequent passage of N1.3 billion for the fictitious agency in the 2026 Budget?
Source: The Nation Newspaper.
