'DG' of fake state agency charged with fraud

A Nigerian man accused of illegally creating a government agency, installing himself as its boss and securing federal budget allocations for it has been charged with forgery and impersonation in court in a case that has exposed gaps in the checks governing the country’s public institutions. Prosecutors allege Adeniyi Adeyemi had since 2024 posed as director-general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, an agency the presidency said it did not establish or authorise him to lead, reports TimesLIVE. The purported agency nevertheless obtained office space inside the federal secretariat, secured a $1m budget allocation this year, and tried to open accounts at the Central Bank of Nigeria, according to court filings. Several government institutions processed its requests in the belief it was legitimate. The case has captivated Nigerians because of the sheer ambition of the alleged enterprise: a state agency the government said did not exist appears to have negotiated several layers of state bureaucracy. Adeyemi pleaded not guilty to all charges and was sent to prison detention until his next scheduled court appearance on 12 October. For Nigeria, where corruption and weak oversight have long undermined public services and confidence in government, the case is seen reinforcing perceptions that official procedures can be bypassed with the right documents and claims of powerful connections.

Full TimesLIVE report