NIGERIA FAKE FEDERAL AGENCY SCANDAL PUTS TINUBU GOVERNMENT UNDER PRESSURE

A political scandal has widened in Nigeria after reports that an allegedly fake federal agency was allocated public funds in the 2026 budget and given office space inside the federal secretariat, according to The Guardian. The agency, identified in the report as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, was allegedly assigned 1.3 billion naira in the national budget despite not being a legitimate government body.

The Guardian reported that the alleged scheme was linked to Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who is accused of forging official documents, impersonating government officials and deceiving the accountant-general's office into opening bank accounts for the fake agency. The report said Adeyemi also allegedly held meetings with ambassadors while presenting himself as connected to a federal body.

The case has placed President Bola Tinubu's administration under pressure because the alleged fake agency was not operating only from the margins of government. It was given office space in the federal secretariat, a central government complex in Abuja, raising questions about how a non-existent agency could access official premises and budgetary recognition.

The Guardian reported that Femi Gbajabiamila, Tinubu's chief of staff, denied involvement after his forged signature was allegedly used in the documents connected to the scheme. The report said Gbajabiamila rejected claims tying him to the fake agency and said the matter had been referred for investigation.

The presidency has ordered an anti-corruption probe, with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission given 30 days to report back. Opposition figures, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, have called for an independent inquiry, arguing that the scandal raises broader questions about budget oversight, document verification and access to federal offices.

Nigeria's anti-corruption agencies have been under sustained public scrutiny because high-level graft cases have repeatedly involved large public funds. Reuters reported that former power minister Saleh Mamman was sentenced to 75 years in prison after being convicted of laundering 33.8 billion naira linked to funds intended for major hydroelectric projects.

The fake-agency case is different because it centers not only on alleged theft, but on the apparent creation of a government-facing structure capable of interacting with official processes. If the allegations are confirmed, investigators will have to determine who approved office access, how the budget allocation was inserted, whether any funds were released, and whether officials inside ministries or budget offices assisted or failed to detect the fraud.

The immediate questions are whether investigators recover any public funds, whether more officials are implicated, and whether the government releases the documents that allowed the agency to appear legitimate. Until the inquiry is complete, the scandal remains a test of Nigeria's budget controls and the Tinubu administration's anti-corruption credibility.

Fact-check date: 11 July 2026
Article type: News
Sources: The Guardian, Reuters, Africanews, Punch, Nigerian presidency