By Mardiyyah Abubakar
Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, who claims to be the Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has denied orchestrating the agency’s reported inclusion in the federal budget, insisting the development occurred after his arrest.
In a recorded interview with social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, Adeniyi said he personally lobbied officials at the Budget Office to have the agency captured in the budget but maintained that his efforts ended before any approval was secured.
He also dismissed claims linking the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to the reported ₦1.3 billion budget allocation, saying he never met him and that all his dealings were handled through his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola.
According to Adeniyi, he visited the Budget Office in December 2024 seeking the agency’s inclusion in the 2025 Appropriation Bill but was informed that the budget process had already closed. He said officials advised him to pursue the 2026 budget instead after the agency failed to make the 2025 appropriation.
He claimed a female official facilitated a meeting with the Director-General of the Budget Office, who later referred him to another director. Adeniyi alleged that the director asked, “Where is my shini?”a slang expression often interpreted as a request for financial inducement but insisted he neither offered nor paid any bribe.
“I didn’t pay anybody. I only promised that if I started employing people, I could help them with jobs,” he said.
Adeniyi said all discussions on the proposed agency ceased following his arrest and expressed surprise when he later learnt that the PFIPC had appeared in the budget.
“Immediately there was a problem, everything stopped,” he said, adding that he had no role in any alleged budget insertion after his legal troubles began.
On allegations that he paid ₦400 million to facilitate his appointment, Adeniyi claimed the money was delivered in U.S. dollars through Tanimola but said he could not confirm whether the funds reached Gbajabiamila.
“I never met Gbajabiamila physically before or after the appointment. Dolapo Tanimola handled everything for me,” he said.
The allegations and claims made by Adeniyi have not been independently verified. The individuals mentioned in the interview have yet to publicly respond. Meanwhile, investigations into the controversial budget allocation continue
