Reps order IGP to produce disputed PFIPC DG Adeyemi

THE House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the activities of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, to produce the council’s self-proclaimed Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, before the lawmakers within 48 hours.

The committee gave the directive on Monday, July 27, during a resumed investigative hearing at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.

The lawmakers asked the police to ensure Adeyemi appears before it by 12 noon on Wednesday, July 29, to answer questions over the operations of the disputed agency.

During the sitting, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Bashir Abdullahi, who represented the IGP,  told lawmakers that the police had already filed an eight-count charge against Adeyemi before the Federal High Court and that the case was ongoing.

Abdullahi said the police began investigating the matter following petitions from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, alleging that Adeyemi fraudulently presented himself as the Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.

According to the police, investigations also uncovered allegations that Adeyemi used the purported office to obtain accommodation at the Federal Secretariat Complex, sought approval to recruit about 300 personnel, attempted to secure a $1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 budget for the organisation and planned to organise a World Investment Summit under the council’s platform.

During the hearing, lawmakers reportedly compared signatures on documents purportedly issued from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President with authentic official correspondence obtained by investigators.

When asked whether the signatures matched, the police witness replied, “They are not the same.”

Committee Chairman Yusuf Gagdi said 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.

“This committee clearly needs the suspected DG to appear before it. People’s names are involved. People’s integrity is involved. Institutional names are involved. Institutional integrity is involved,” Gagdi said.

He added that Adeyemi’s appearance was necessary to enable the committee conclude its investigation without undermining the ongoing criminal case.

Accountant-General says forged State House letter used to create PFIPC

In the same vein, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, during the sitting on Monday, disclosed that a forged State House letter was allegedly used to secure official government recognition for the PFIPC.

Appearing before the committee, Ogunjimi said his office first dealt with the purported council in November 2024 after receiving what appeared to be an authentic State House letter requesting the creation of an administrative code for the organisation to facilitate budgeting, accounting and financial reporting.

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He noted that the Office of the Accountant-General created the administrative code and communicated its approval to the State House, copying the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation while acting on the correspondence.

The office subsequently received additional requests from the council, including applications for self-accounting status, deployment of personnel, opening of Treasury Single Account (TSA) and domiciliary accounts, as well as funding approvals.

However, Ogunjimi told lawmakers that subsequent investigations established that the letter did not originate from the State House.

Ogunjimi, however, stressed that no public funds were released to the council despite the administrative approvals processed by his office.

Background

The House probe follows growing controversy surrounding the PFIPC after the Presidency distanced itself from the organisation, insisting that no such agency exists under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, had described Adeyemi as an impostor who allegedly used forged government documents to deceive public institutions, foreign missions and development partners.

The controversy deepened after it was revealed that the 2026 Appropriation Act allocated ₦1.302 billion to the PFIPC despite the Presidency’s position that the council was non-existent.

Last week, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, explained that the Budget Office included the organisation in the 2026 budget after relying on official government records already issued by relevant public institutions.

Yakubu said the Budget Office neither created nor approved the council’s establishment but acted on documents showing that the Office of the Accountant-General had assigned it an administrative budget code, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had granted establishment approval and a recruitment waiver.

He explained that although the council requested a larger personnel allocation, the Budget Office independently computed its personnel costs, resulting in ₦802.98 million for personnel, alongside ₦200 million for overheads and ₦300 million for capital expenditure, which were included in the Executive Budget proposal and later passed by the National Assembly.

Yakubu maintained, however, that the budgetary allocation never translated into public expenditure because statutory conditions required before releasing government funds were never met.

According to him, no financial clearance was issued, no recruitment was lawfully completed, no personnel were enrolled on the federal payroll and no salaries were paid.

He added that overhead and capital allocations also remained unreleased after concerns emerged over the legal status of the council.

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