The Director-general of the Presidential Support Organisation , All Progressives Congress, (APC), Comrade Umar Jijiwa, has dismissed allegations that Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, accepted a ₦400 million bribe in connection with the alleged establishment of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), insisting there is no evidence to support the claim.
Speaking with ARISE NEWS on Monday, the DG said he does not believe the claims, as no one has come out with supporting evidence.
“400 million naira? That is between them and God. And that is the truth. But I don’t believe it’s true. I think it’s a situation whereby somebody is quite ambitious to the point of being naive. I know for sure, 100%—that if there is any evidence of payment, it would have been out by now. I don’t think it’s possible. I mean, that’s the Chief of Staff to the President, for this 400 million naira,” he insisted.
Jijiwa said he knows Adeniyi personally and described him as a loyal APC member. He argued that while Adeniyi was qualified for public office, allegations that he paid ₦400 million through an intermediary cannot be sustained without credible evidence, questioning where such a large sum would have come from.
“I know Adeniyi. He’s a loyalist of the party. He’s a loyalist of the President. I am also qualified to be DG of anywhere, the same way he is. He’s qualified. But the issue is this: you cannot go and say you gave a man money through somebody and you don’t have evidence of any money you gave. If you had money to give, where did you get it? Because a young person raising that kind of money so quickly like that is a crazy issue, because I know him. This is someone I know. It’s not somebody that you’re telling me about,” he stressed.
According to Jijiwa, the controversy only came to light after the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) raised concerns that the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) was encroaching on its statutory mandate.
” I think it’s a mixture of both. Because if the Investment Promotion Council had not raised an issue, stating that there’s another agency that’s supposed to do their job, maybe we may not be here. So let’s get that right: the fight for their rights and their mandate given to them by the federal government.”
He also suggested that Adeniyi’s “too much ambition” contributed to the situation.
“If you want to talk about this Adeniyi—he’s a person I know. I know him. It’s not that I don’t know him, I know him. He’s one of those people that worked very, very hard during the last election. And he was one of those people that fell into the same issue that a lot of young people fall into, and that is what? Ambition. Too much ambition,” he suggested.
Speaking on the ongoing investigation, Comrade Jijiwa urged Nigerians not to jump to conclusions, saying the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) should be allowed to complete its probe. He said investigators must determine whether Adeniyi was defrauded or acted fraudulently, while also questioning how ₦1.3 billion was approved for the alleged PFIPC in the 2026 budget.
“That is why ICPC are there. They’re the ones that are supposed to do that research and find out who are the collaborators. If there is anybody that scammed Adeniyi, they need to find out how. They need to also understand why you feel it is proper for you to give 400 million naira to get an office which is supposed to be for you to serve this country, not for you to make money from it. We have to go and ask the Appropriation Committee.
“What I want Nigerians to stop doing is making judgments before it is before a court of law. We have to allow these agencies to do their job. Now, the National Assembly allowing that in the budget is a very, very confusing thing. And as well, how were they seeing this in the Federal Executive Council? These are questions that we all need answers to. Is it that the scammer got scammed? Or was it a person that they took advantage of his ambition to rob him dry and put him down? We can’t make that confirmation. But the only thing that we can confirm today is the fact that the President told ICPC to do their job. So, I think we should let them do their job. If we allow them to do their job, we will see the report. If there are people that scammed him, we will see it. If he is the one that scammed people, we will just see it. It is there. It’s just a matter of time,” he remarked.
Responding to questions on whether the matter involved forged documents or institutional negligence, Jijiwa said the ongoing investigation would determine what transpired.
“I think that’s what we’ll find out now,” he stated.
Commenting on the death of Damilola Olanrewaju, whom Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew identified as the alleged intermediary in the purported ₦400 million bribery arrangement involving Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Jijiwa described the circumstances as “quite intriguing” and said the incident warranted a thorough investigation.
However, he urged against speculation, saying the facts surrounding Olanrewaju’s death and the demolition of the hotel where he reportedly died should be established through due process.
“It’s quite intriguing. It’s quite intriguing, because a part of me wants to know: was he killed? What happened? Because I believe that losing a Nigerian life is a major issue as far as I’m concerned. Was he killed? Or did he die the same way that we know every human being must die one day?
“As for the hotel, They said there was a fire. It does not bother me at all. We’ll find out eventually if he was killed. Both myself, you, and a lot of Nigerians are not really high up there when it comes to security architecture to truly understand every single thing that is happening. There’s so much that we don’t even know, that we’re waiting to know. The issue is worth proving into. It is,” he said.
Speaking on the broader implications of the controversy, Jijiwa acknowledged that the allegations could damage Nigeria’s international reputation and investor confidence. However, he urged against making assumptions before investigations are concluded, arguing that opinions should be based on established facts rather than unverified claims.
“It does mar us as a country, but you know, bad news is not good news as far as I’m concerned, because we are Nigeria. We are Nigeria; we are supposed to be the most powerful country in this continent, we’re the heart of Africa. We shouldn’t be having issues that are going to spoil our image internationally.
“That’s why I keep saying to people, things change, beliefs change based on facts that you have on hand. If you don’t have those facts on hand, you might come up with an assumption, and it’s too dangerous to assume,” he warned.
On the ICPC’s ability to conduct an impartial investigation, Comrade Jijiwa said the outcome would depend on the integrity of the officials handling the case, insisting that no one is above the law.
“It comes down to the people that are there. If you believe that the mandate, which is constitutional by the way, of ICPC is real, then nobody is above the law. Nobody. And there’s no mandate that is higher than the President, not in Nigeria. Only God,” he maintained.
On reforms to prevent similar controversies, Jijiwa described the case as a “dicey situation” but said it offered an opportunity to strengthen governance. He proposed the creation of an independent due process office with oversight powers across all arms of government to verify official appointments and ensure agencies comply with established procedures.
“It’s a dicey situation, no doubt about it. But this is the time that we’re going to see what we have. We’re going to see for real. Nigerians will eventually judge, because at the end of the day, the country itself is bigger than everybody, including Adeniyi, including Chief of Staff. It is bigger than all of us.
“First of all, I believe we have to create an office that is in charge of due process. We have to create an office that is in charge of due process,” he suggested.
Commenting on conflicting accounts over the PFIPC’s bank accounts, Jijiwa said questions remained over how the alleged council was able to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He also referenced the Accountant-General’s position that no public funds were released to the body, while noting Adeniyi’s claim that he withdrew after being told the council was not legitimate.
“I also know that the Accountant General, you know, also spoke about it as well, that there is no public fund that was given to this. And I also watched an interview that my friend Adeniyi did, where he said that they told him this thing is not real, and he moved back. So no money came to him at all from the public purse. Let’s understand that side of it. We are dealing with an issue that we are arguing: is this guy impersonating, or is he real? Is his agency real, or is it fake? Even if… I know that the CBN is not like another bank where you can walk in and open an account. That’s a question that needs to be answered.”
Speaking on possible loopholes in the approval process, Jijiwa said the priority was identifying where the system failed to prevent a recurrence, stressing the need for accountability, saying authorities must explain how the alleged PFIPC passed through official channels.
“That’s the same question I’ve been asking. Where is the problem, so that we can solve it? So that it doesn’t happen again. How did it get here? There must be something wrong somewhere, because the system must have a weak link. I also know that if we do not look at that side of it, we cannot be accountable to the people. We have to be accountable. We have to explain how this was done. Is it that they allowed it in because they were too lazy to check and see whether it’s good or not? Is it that? We don’t know. Is it negligence? We don’t know. Is it corruption?”, he questioned.
Jijiwa further said no one should benefit from the PFIPC controversy, describing it as a serious national issue.
“I don’t think that anybody should benefit from this issue. This is a serious issue,” he concluded.
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