A trail of signboards, letterheads, official photos, media coverage and social posts. Together they show a “Presidential Economic Advisory Council” and “Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council” (PEAC/PFIPC) operating from 2024 into 2025, led by Adeyemi Adeniyi as Director-General. According to the images, he met ministers, ambassadors, the EFCC chairman and traditional rulers, and appeared in group photos with the Vice President.
In July 2026 the Presidency said no such council had ever existed under the current administration and called it fictitious. Adeyemi and two others had already been arraigned in November 2025 on an eight-count charge including forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence. Yet the 2026 Appropriation Act lists PEAC/PFIPC under the Presidency with ₦1.3 billion. The Budget Office says not one kobo was released, and the House of Representatives opened a probe.
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BusinessDay Investigations: “Who is Adeyemi Adeniyi?”, a timeline of the self-styled DG and the claims it could not verify.
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An official-looking sign inside a federal building: “This way to office of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council / Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.”
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A letter on Presidency letterhead dated 24 June 2025, addressed to “The Director General, PEAC/PFIPC, Federal Secretariat Complex III,” inviting the council to join a Nigerian delegation to a summit in Toronto.
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Adeyemi (circled) in an official group photo with Vice President Kashim Shettima at a Nigeria–Colombia event.
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A delegation photo in a government conference room beneath portraits of the President and Vice President.
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Meeting officials across a government boardroom table.
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Seated at a conference table with a uniformed police orderly standing behind him.
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Receiving an EFCC plaque from the Commission's chairman. The EFCC said in September 2025 that the meeting was about promoting foreign investment.
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A PFIPC Instagram post (15 Aug 2025) about a visit to the Royal Thai Embassy.
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An Instagram post (3 Sep 2025) describing a visit by the Soun of Ogbomoso to “the Presidential Economic Advisory Council” to mark the DG's appointment.
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Group photo from the Soun of Ogbomoso's visit.
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Daily Independent headline, 5 Sep 2025: “Soun of Ogbomoso backs Presidential Economic Advisory, Foreign Intervention Promotion Councils.”
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Programme for a “Pre-World Investment Summit Dinner 2025” listing “Final words from the President and Commander-in-Chief.”
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“Thank you Mr President” advert claiming approval for 314 new staff, offices in all 36 states and 127 global offices.
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An echo from 1997. PM News, 26 March 1997: “Fraudsters open own Central Bank,” an office opposite the real CBN, allegedly run in collusion with CBN officials.
- ICIR: PFIPC puzzle — budget allocation, public activities contradict Presidency's denial
- Arise TV: Budget Office says no funds released to phantom PFIPC despite ₦1.3bn allocation
- Leadership: Presidency disowns Prince Adeyemi, declares Foreign Intervention Council fake
- AllAfrica: House of Reps probes N1.3 billion vote to phantom PFIPC
- ICIR: “I was in detention when Presidency approved PFIPC's budget” — Adeyemi
What broke, and what would fix it
What broke
The question is not how one man faked an agency but how many checks failed to stop him. Officials, embassies, media and the budget process all accepted the agency as real. Each one relied on the others having verified it. Nobody owned the basic check of whether this body was legally established. The 1997 “CBN annex” shows the same weakness existed nearly 30 years ago.
Who submitted PEAC/PFIPC's budget request, and who let a body with no legal existence into the Appropriation Act?
