The Presidency has called on security and anti-graft agencies to identify, arrest and prosecute officials within government institutions who allegedly collaborated with alleged con artist, Adeyemi Matthew Adeniyi, saying dismantling the internal network that sustained his activities is now the most critical task before investigators.

The Presidency said operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should go beyond investigating the alleged con artist and expose everyone within the system who enabled him to operate an elaborate fraudulent scheme over a prolonged period.

The position was contained in a statement made by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, through his verified X handle, @TheTope_Ajayi, amid continuing public debate over allegations made by Adeniyi against the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

According to the Presidency, much of the public commentary surrounding the allegations had overlooked a crucial fact: that it was the same Federal Government system being criticised that eventually detected the alleged fraud and moved against it.

The Intervention comes amid continuing public debate over the activities of Adeniyi, who has been accused of operating a fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and a so-called Presidential Economic Advisory Council while allegedly presenting forged documents purportedly linked to the Presidency.

The Presidency had earlier distanced itself from the organisations, describing them as non-existent government bodies and maintaining that Gbajabiamila neither authorised nor had any connection with the suspect’s activities.

Ajayi argued that corruption allegations are often deployed in Nigeria to divert attention from the real issues, saying the accused was exploiting that public psychology by attempting to draw the Chief of Staff into his alleged criminal enterprise.

“In Nigeria, the easiest and most believable allegation anyone can throw at a public officer is corruption. Once that accusation is thrown into the mix, the water Is polluted, the lines are blurred and everyone is kept busy arguing over distractions rather than the real issues”, he wrote.

He described Adeniyi as “an irredeemable con artist” who was using allegations against the Chief of Staff as “his last straw” in an effort to shield himself from criminal liability.

According to the Presidency, while several commentators had questioned how such an elaborate scheme could have operated for so long, they failed to acknowledge that government institutions themselves eventually uncovered the irregularities.

It explained that officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), working with officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first detected inconsistencies relating to the suspect’s operations and formally reported the matter to the appropriate authorities.

The Presidency said that development demonstrated that institutional checks within government were functional and capable of identifying and responding to fraudulent activities.

“Contrary to the anything-goes narrative being promoted, it was the system itself that raised the red flag and dealt with it administratively”, Ajayi stated.

While acknowledging that the suspect had managed to operate for an extended period, the Presidency insisted that such longevity could only have been made possible through the assistance of collaborators embedded within relevant public institutions.

It therefore urged investigators to focus on exposing the broader criminal network rather than limiting their investigation to the principal suspect.

“What is not in doubt is that internal collaborators enabled Adeniyi to get this far. That is precisely what investigators from the DSS, the Police and the EFCC must now unravel.

“The criminal network within the affected institutions must be dismantled and everyone found to have played a role should be arrested and prosecuted”, he said.

The Presidency maintained that rather than portraying the incident as evidence of institutional complicity at the highest levels of government, the facts showed that the system itself exposed and halted the alleged fraud while law enforcement agencies continue their investigations.If you’d like, I can also make the lead stronger and more front-page oriented. (The Nation)

•Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, acclaimed Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council/Presidential Economic Advisory Council. Credit: Bayo Onanuga