The Arewa Youths Merger Group of the All Progressives Congress has thrown its full support behind the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and demanded the immediate investigation and prosecution of one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew for allegedly parading himself as the Director-General of a bogus agency, the *Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The group described the scandal as a deliberate political plot to defame the Presidency, embarrass the Federal Government, and undermine President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking after a meeting with the Chief of Staff at the President, the National Coordinator of the Arewa Youths Merger Group, Comrade Musa Mujahid Zaitawa in a statement on Sunday said they discovered that it was the Presidency itself that uncovered the fraud and directed the EFCC and ICPC to investigate those behind it.
According to him, Adeniyi Matthew has been moving around the country claiming to be the DG of PFIPC, an agency with no gazette, no law, and no approval from the Federal Government.
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“He has been issuing fake appointment letters, fake ID cards, and collecting money from unsuspecting Nigerians under the guise of recruitment, contracts, and foreign intervention projects. He is using the name of the Chief of Staff and the Presidency to give the scam credibility,” he alleged.
The group called on security agencies to arrest Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew and compel him to produce any genuine appointment letter from the President. “Nothing of such exists. PFIPC is a complete fraud,” it stated.
The Arewa Youths Merger Group said the attack on Gbajabiamila is part of a wider plot by some politicians to damage Nigeria’s reputation internationally and weaken the Tinubu administration.
“President Tinubu set up an economic team to block loopholes used in stealing public funds. He is the first President to openly expose how stamp duty funds were diverted and how irregularities at NNPCL were used to put pressure on Nigerians,” the group said.
It referenced ongoing corruption cases, including a former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, accused of repainting a leased aircraft and presenting it as new, a former Minister, Saleh Mamman and the alleged diversion of billions meant for the Mambilla Hydro Power Project, as well as cases involving former Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.
The group added that fraudsters are now colluding with some elements in the National Assembly and some bad eggs within the Presidency. It said the removal of the fuel subsidy was President Tinubu’s move to stop the racketeering done in the name of the subsidy, which never benefited ordinary Nigerians.
“They aim to tarnish his image, force him out, and break the South-Arewa alliance that produced the APC and brought President Tinubu to power,” it alleged.
The Arewa Youths Merger Group said it stands firmly with Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila and will continue to defend his integrity.
It recalled supporting him during his bid to become Speaker in the 8th Assembly, his emergence as Speaker in the 9th Assembly, and his appointment as Chief of Staff.
