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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Crime & Justice

PFIPC scandal is pure scam, Nigeria's Presidency declares

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Nigeria's Presidency has debunked claims of a fake federal agency, attributing the scandal to a forged appointment letter with a non-existent phone number on the State House letterhead.
  • Presidential spokesperson Temitope Ajayi stated that genuine letterheads lack such numbers and that presidential appointments are made by the President, not the Chief of Staff.
  • The Presidency confirmed that Adeniyi Adeyemi, the individual at the center of the controversy, is facing charges for conspiracy, forgery, and impersonation.

Nigeria's Presidency has firmly dismissed allegations surrounding a purported "Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council" (PFIPC), labeling the entire affair a "pure scam" orchestrated through forged documents. The controversy centers on an appointment letter presented by Adeniyi Adeyemi, who allegedly operated a fake federal agency from the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja.

On the genuine State House letterhead, there is no contact telephone number. On the purported appointment letter, however, there is one.

— Temitope AjayiPresidential spokesperson Temitope Ajayi explaining how the forged appointment letter was exposed.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, highlighted a key discrepancy that exposed the fraud: a telephone number listed on the forged State House letterhead. "On the genuine State House letterhead, there is no contact telephone number. On the purported appointment letter, however, there is one," Ajayi explained during an Arise Television interview. He asserted that anyone familiar with the Presidency's operations would immediately recognize this as a fabrication.

So anybody who understands how the system works will know this is a pure scam and a forged document.

— Temitope AjayiTemitope Ajayi's assessment of the fraudulent appointment letter.

Ajayi further clarified the appointment process, emphasizing that presidential appointments are exclusively made by the President, not the Chief of Staff. "The Chief of Staff does not make appointments. It is the President who makes appointments into agencies or extra-ministerial positions," he stated. The Chief of Staff's role, he added, is merely to convey the President's approval to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who then issues the official appointment letter. Therefore, any letter claiming direct origin from the Chief of Staff's office is procedurally incorrect and a "red flag."

The Chief of Staff does not make appointments. It is the President who makes appointments into agencies or extra-ministerial positions.

— Temitope AjayiTemitope Ajayi clarifying the presidential appointment process.

While Ajayi did not rule out the possibility of internal collaborators aiding Adeyemi, he noted that the audacity to operate within the Federal Secretariat suggested potential breaches. Adeyemi, along with two other individuals identified as Femi and Anu (who are currently at large), faces eight counts of conspiracy, forgery, and impersonation. He was reportedly arrested on October 27.

So, procedurally, it is even wrong for anyone to go about brandishing a letter of appointment originating from the office of the Chief of Staff. That is the first red flag.

— Temitope AjayiTemitope Ajayi pointing out procedural errors in the alleged appointment.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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