Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, who describes himself as the Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), has explained how the agency was proposed for inclusion in the federal budget.
Speaking in a recorded interview with social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan, Adeniyi said he was no longer involved in the process by the time the council received a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 budget.
The interview surfaced shortly after his arrest over allegations of forgery, impersonation and conspiracy connected to the operations of the controversial agency.
According to Adeniyi, he approached the Budget Office in December 2024 to seek the inclusion of PFIPC in the 2025 Appropriation Bill but was informed that the deadline for submissions had already passed.
He said officials advised him that the proposal could instead be considered during preparations for the 2026 budget.
Adeniyi further alleged that a female staff member at the Budget Office introduced him to senior officials, where he was allegedly asked to provide a “shini”—a slang term often used to refer to a bribe—before his request could proceed.
He claimed that after telling the official he had no money to offer, he was directed to another senior officer, who reportedly confirmed that the 2025 budget process had closed but assured him the proposal could be reviewed for the following year’s budget.
The embattled promoter maintained that his arrest and subsequent legal challenges brought his efforts to an end, stressing that he had no knowledge of how PFIPC was eventually included in the 2026 budget.
The PFIPC controversy has generated widespread public attention after it was revealed that about ₦1.32 billion was allocated to the council in the 2026 budget, despite the Federal Government’s position that the agency was never legally established.
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