Politics
Police fail to produce ‘fake’ agency DG before Reps
THE Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on Wednesday, July 29, said it could not produce Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man accused of presenting himself as the Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the body.
The police said Adeyemi remained in custody under a valid order of the Federal High Court, making it impossible to release him to appear before lawmakers without a court warrant.
The House committee, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, had directed the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, on Monday, July 27, to produce Adeyemi at Wednesday’s investigative hearing after several government institutions testified on the operations of the purported council.
Representing the IGP, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Akinola, of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre told lawmakers that while the police recognised the National Assembly’s constitutional oversight powers, it could not produce the suspect because he was being detained under a subsisting court order.
According to Akinola, the police would comply with the committee’s request once it obtained a production warrant or any other appropriate order from a court of competent jurisdiction.
“The Nigeria Police Force may not be able to produce the suspect as requested in view of the subsisting warrant. The Nigeria Police Force recognises the constitutional oversight powers of the National Assembly and remains committed to cooperating with the committee in the discharge of its mandate.
“However, in this case, it will be appreciated if a production warrant could be obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction to enable the police to comply with this request,” Akinola was quoted by PUNCH to have said.
Responding, the committee chairman accepted the explanation and said the committee would immediately commence the process of obtaining the required court order.
He added that the panel would notify the Office of the Inspector-General of Police once the order is secured.
Backstory
The ICIR reported on Monday that the House committee ordered the police to produce Adeyemi within 48 hours over alleged widespread use of forged government documents to legitimise the activities of the purported council.
During that hearing, Bashir Abdullahi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, told lawmakers that the police had already filed an eight-count charge against Adeyemi before the Federal High Court following petitions from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
According to the police, investigations showed that Adeyemi allegedly presented himself as Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
He was also accused of using the purported office to obtain accommodation at the Federal Secretariat, seek approval to recruit about 300 personnel, pursue a $1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 budget, and plan a World Investment Summit under the council’s platform.
The committee further disclosed that investigators had identified about 29 allegedly forged documents, including purported approvals from the State House, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Ministry of Finance, and other government institutions.
The ICIR reported that despite the Presidency’s position, the 2026 Appropriation Act contained a ₦1.302 billion allocation for the PFIPC.
Explaining the inclusion, Director-General of the Budget Office Tanimu Yakubu said the agency appeared in the budget because official records from relevant government institutions indicated that it had been assigned an administrative budget code and granted establishment approval.
However, he noted that no money was released because the statutory requirements for disbursement were never fulfilled, adding that no personnel were enrolled on the federal payroll and no salaries were paid.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M
