The Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, has explained that he established the agency to attract foreign investors to Nigeria and support the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Matthew, who is facing charges over the controversial agency, made the clarification during a video call with social media critic, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
He denied establishing the agency for personal gain, insisting that his intention was to contribute to national development and make Nigeria a preferred destination for foreign investment.
The embattled DG also said he personally funded the agency’s office out of passion for the country and disclosed that plans were underway to host a global investment summit before the controversy erupted.
Matthew further expressed surprise over the Presidency’s position that the council does not exist, saying he had no knowledge of how the agency was captured in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
He maintained that he neither prepared nor defended any budget for the agency, explaining that he was in detention for 23 days while the 2026 budget was being prepared and defended before the National Assembly.
According to him, the former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, invited him to explain how he obtained his appointment, after which he was detained.
He added that by the time he regained his freedom in November 2025, he had already been charged to court and the office allocated to the council had been reassigned to another government official.
Matthew also disclosed that he never met with the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, over the petition filed against him, although they spoke on the telephone through his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola.
He insisted that he possesses documents supporting the establishment of the council and pledged to submit them to the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) to aid ongoing investigations.
The Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council attracted public attention after it appeared as one of the beneficiaries in the 2026 Appropriation Act despite the Presidency maintaining that no such agency exists under the Federal Government.
NAN
