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Head of fake Nigerian government agency arrested after weeks on the run

Nigerian police have arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who allegedly posed as director general of a fake government agency. The arrest follows a court warrant and forensic confirmation that the letter creating the agency was forged. The suspect maintains his innocence and is expected to face further questioning in Abuja.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Jul 15, 2026 Published Aug 15

Arrest and Investigation

Nigerian police have arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the man who allegedly ran a fake government agency, after weeks on the run. He was detained in Osun State, southwestern Nigeria, according to Africa News. The arrest came after a Federal High Court in Abuja issued a warrant on Tuesday; Adeyemi had skipped a hearing on forgery and impersonation charges.

The BBC reports that police confirmed operatives from its Force Intelligence Department and Intelligence Response Team carried out the arrest. Adeyemi is expected to be taken to police headquarters in Abuja for further questioning. The police had launched a manhunt for Adeyemi after allegations about the PFIPC surfaced last week.

The Fake Agency

The case revolves around the "Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council" (PFIPC), an agency that Adeyemi claimed was set up in 2024 to draw foreign investment into Nigeria. President Bola Tinubu's office has said the letter creating the PFIPC was forged. Police forensic analysis confirmed that the signature of the president's chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, on the disputed appointment letter was forged, as reported by both Africa News and the BBC.

Despite its dubious origins, the PFIPC was far from invisible. It held office space inside Abuja's Federal Secretariat, the complex that houses many government ministries. It also opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria and was listed in Nigeria's 2026 budget with an allocation of 1.3 billion naira, about $950,000 or £700,000, according to Africa News.

However, the Accountant-General's Office has since said the PFIPC never actually operated a central bank account and never received public funds or salaries. No record exists of it completing any deals, despite Adeyemi's claims about attracting foreign investment.

Court documents accuse Adeyemi and two others of using forged documents to set up and run the council, opening bank accounts in its name, and seeking official government recognition for an agency that didn't exist, as reported by both sources.

Adeyemi's Defense

Before his arrest, Adeyemi denied wrongdoing in interviews with local media. He said his safety was at risk, according to the BBC. "My life is in danger," he said, according to local reports, though he promised to appear in court to clear his name.

However, he was absent at the hearing on Tuesday. His lawyer, Genesis Francis, told the court he had been unable to persuade his client to attend, citing Adeyemi's safety fears. The lawyer said the defendant had written an open letter to President Tinubu expressing those concerns.

Key Claims

Arrest: Police arrested Adeyemi on Tuesday, and he is expected to be taken to police headquarters in Abuja for further questioning.
Forgery: The letter creating the PFIPC was fake, and police forensic analysis confirmed the signature of Femi Gbajabiamila was forged.
Agency's operations: The PFIPC had secured office space within the Federal Secretariat and opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, but the Accountant-General's Office said it never operated an account with the central bank nor received public funds or salaries.
Lack of deals: Adeyemi had claimed the PFIPC was set up in 2024 to draw foreign investment, but no record exists of it completing any deals.
Court documents: Adeyemi and two others are accused of using forged documents to establish and run the council, opening bank accounts in its name, and seeking official recognition for a non-existent agency.

How each outlet told it

Africa News as of Jul 15, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

Framing: Sensational — Informative

Facts Included:

Nigerian police arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew
Adeyemi was detained in Osun State
Adeyemi had called himself director general of the PFIPC
Police made the arrest after a Federal High Court in Abuja issued a warrant
The presidency says the letter creating the PFIPC was forged
The agency held office space inside Abuja's Federal Secretariat and opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria
The Accountant-General's Office said the PFIPC never actually operated a central bank account and never received public funds or salaries
Adeyemi had claimed the PFIPC was set up in 2024 to draw foreign investment into Nigeria

Read the source article →

BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC

Framing: Neutral — Objective

Facts Included:

Police arrested Adeyemi on Tuesday
Adeyemi is expected to be taken to police headquarters in Abuja for further questioning
The police launched a manhunt for Adeyemi after allegations about the PFIPC surfaced
Tinubu's office said the letter creating the PFIPC was fake
Police forensic analysis confirmed the signature of Femi Gbajabiamila on the disputed appointment letter was forged
Adeyemi maintained his innocence in interviews with local media
Adeyemi's lawyer said he had written an open letter to President Tinubu expressing safety concerns
The PFIPC had secured office space within the Federal Secretariat and opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria
The Accountant-General's Office said the PFIPC had never operated an account with the central bank nor received public funds or salaries

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimPolice arrested Adeyemi on Tuesday. He is expected to be taken to the police headquarters in Abuja for further questioning.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe police launched a manhunt for Adeyemi after allegations about the PFIPC surfaced.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC
ClaimTinubu's office said the letter creating the PFIPC was fake.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimPolice forensic analysis confirmed the signature of Femi Gbajabiamila on the disputed appointment letter was forged.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimAdeyemi maintained his innocence in interviews with local media.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimAdeyemi's lawyer said he had written an open letter to President Tinubu expressing safety concerns.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe PFIPC had secured office space within the Federal Secretariat and opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe Accountant-General's Office said the PFIPC had never operated an account with the central bank nor received public funds or salaries.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from BBC — World as of Jul 15, 2026, 10:00 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimAdeyemi had claimed the PFIPC was set up in 2024 to draw foreign investment into Nigeria.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Africa News as of Jul 15, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimNo record exists of the PFIPC completing any deals.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Africa News as of Jul 15, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimCourt documents accuse Adeyemi and two others of using forged documents to set up and run the council, opening bank accounts in its name, and seeking official government recognition for an agency that didn't exist.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Africa News as of Jul 15, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 2 articles consulted: Africa News, BBC — World 11 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-15