The Presidency has directed security and anti-corruption agencies to investigate and prosecute any government official linked to the alleged operation of fake federal government agencies.
The directive follows allegations against Prince Matthew Adeniyi Adeyemi, who is accused of creating two fictitious agencies using forged Presidency documents.
The agencies are the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said investigators must identify everyone who helped the alleged scheme.
He urged the DSS, the Nigeria Police Force and the EFCC to uncover the network of officials who may have aided the operation.
Ajayi said the investigation should extend beyond Adeyemi to all collaborators within government institutions.
According to him, officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs first detected irregularities.
He explained that the agencies reported their findings to the appropriate authorities, leading to the exposure of the alleged fraud.
Ajayi said the government system itself uncovered the scheme, contrary to claims that the fraud went unnoticed.
He, however, insisted that Adeyemi could not have operated for so long without support from insiders.
He called for the arrest and prosecution of every official found to have played a role in the alleged scam.
The Presidency also reaffirmed that the two organisations are not recognised agencies of the Federal Government.
It further stated that Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila neither authorised Adeyemi’s activities nor had any connection with the alleged organisations.
Ajayi accused Adeyemi of attempting to drag Gbajabiamila into the matter to distract from the criminal allegations against him.
The Presidency maintained that the case should be treated as an alleged fraud uncovered by government institutions and not as evidence of involvement by top government officials.
