Adeniyi claims Budget Office officials asked for bribe over fake agency
Adeniyi Adeyemi claimed he personally lobbied Budget Office officials to secure ₦1.3 billion for the fake PFIPC, alleging one official requested a bribe.
Prince Adeyemi Matthew Adeniyi, the embattled Director-General of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, has claimed he personally lobbied officials at the Budget Office to secure the agency’s inclusion in the 2026 Federal Government budget. Speaking in an Instagram interview with social media influencer VeryDarkMan after his arrest, Adeniyi said he first approached the Budget Office in late 2024 but was told the 2025 budget process had closed. He alleged that officials later assured him the proposal would be considered for the 2026 budget and claimed one senior official requested “shini,” a term often used to imply a bribe, although he insisted he paid no money. Instead, he said he only promised future employment opportunities.
Adeniyi also denied ever meeting the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, and said his late associate handled all contacts. The allegations remain unverified, while the Budget Office and other officials have yet to respond publicly. The interview adds a new dimension to the PFIPC scandal, which has already seen Adeniyi arrested and the ICPC questioning Gbajabiamila. The claim that a Budget Office official requested a bribe raises questions about how a fictitious agency secured a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the national budget.
This echoes the 2012 pension fraud scandal, when officials were accused of diverting funds through fictitious entities. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: a system so broken that fake entities can operate with impunity. The Budget Office’s silence on the allegations is deafening.
The winners: Adeniyi, who has generated public attention; and the Nigerian public, who may finally get answers. The losers: the Budget Office officials implicated; and the Nigerian government, which faces another scandal.
Bottom Line: Adeniyi claims Budget Office officials asked for a bribe to include the fake agency in the budget. The Budget Office is silent. The question is whether the investigation will follow the money.