Fresh details emerged on Wednesday in the House of Representatives’ investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, as the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, admitted that her office failed to carry out adequate due diligence before granting key approvals to the purported agency, The PUNCH reports.
Also, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation blamed one of its officials for diverting an official letter that allegedly helped sustain the scheme.
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The ongoing probe centres on allegations that Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, who presented himself as the Director-General of the PFIPC, secured official recognition for the body using allegedly fake appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents and other forged government records, despite the agency having no legal backing.
The House committee is investigating how several federal institutions processed and acted on the documents, leading to the purported agency receiving official approvals.
The House Ad-Hoc Committee probing the alleged creation of the PFIPC and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council without legal backing also said it had uncovered what it described as a web of fake appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents and fictitious government offices allegedly used by the promoters to obtain official recognition from federal institutions.
The Accountant-General’s Office identified one of its staff members, Bello Abdullahi, as the official responsible for diverting correspondence that was intended for the Permanent Secretary, State House, while Walson-Jack acknowledged that her office relied on documents that have now been found to be false before approving an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver for the agency.
The revelations emerged as the committee, chaired by the lawmaker representing Kanke/Kanam/Pankshin Federal Constituency of Plateau State, Yusuf Gagdi, intensified its probe into how the purported agency allegedly secured official recognition despite lacking any legal foundation.
Addressing the panel, the Director, Federal Project Financial Department, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Joshua Luka, explained the circumstances leading to the issuance of an administrative code to the fake agency.
According to him, the OAGF received what appeared to be an official request from the State House and deliberately addressed its response to the Permanent Secretary rather than directly to the agency.
“As part of our due diligence, what we did was to convey the administrative code to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and not to the so-called agency. The idea was that if it was not genuine, the whole thing would be unravelled,” Luka said.
The committee, however, faulted the explanation after evidence showed that the correspondence never reached the State House Permanent Secretary but was instead received by Mr Adeyemi.
Gagdi also disclosed that investigations had established that the Directorate of Administration and Support Services, which appeared on the correspondence, did not exist in the State House.
“There is no Directorate of Administration and Support Services in the State House. That office does not exist,” he said.
He criticised officials of the Accountant-General’s Office for allowing the suspect to receive official correspondence meant for another government office.
“You allowed the fraudulent DG to come and pick the letter from your office instead of allowing someone from the Permanent Secretary’s office to receive it. If the letter had reached the Permanent Secretary, the fraud would have been unraveled immediately,” he said.
Luka, however, insisted that the failure resulted from the actions of a single official rather than an institutional breakdown.
“The problem here was not an office lapse; it was an individual lapse. Somebody was supposed to deliver that letter to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and it was not delivered there,” he explained.
When pressed to reveal the identity of the individual responsible, Luka mentioned Bello, who sat on a row behind him, at Hearing Room 028.
Bello admitted giving the letter to Adeyemi but his attempt to explain the circumstances was shut down by Gagdi.
HoS admits failure
Appearing before the panel, Walson-Jack conceded that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation acted on documents which had now been established to be false.
“We now, having seen all the facts and observed all the documents, concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in the discharge of the duties of the office in issuing an authorised establishment and a recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC,” she told the panel.
She explained that officials of the purported agency attended the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence, presenting themselves as representatives of a newly established federal agency and tendering what appeared to be an Establishment Act alongside a letter appointing a Director-General.
According to her, existing civil service procedures require newly established agencies seeking to recruit staff to submit an enabling Act, the appointment letter of the chief executive and other relevant documents before an authorised establishment and provisional recruitment waiver are granted.
She said her office processed the request based on the documents presented, describing the incident as unprecedented.
“In over almost a century of the Federal Civil Service, we have never encountered a situation like the current one. Criminals always try to be a step ahead of law enforcement,” she said.
However, when subjected to further questioning, Walson-Jack admitted that the supposed Establishment Act was clearly not genuine.
“I requested to see the documents myself and I saw that the Establishment Act was not really an authentic Act. I have almost 30 years of legal practice experience and immediately I saw it, I knew it was not real,” she stated.
She also questioned the authenticity of the letter purportedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President appointing the alleged Director-General.
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When asked to compare the different documents signed by Femi Gbajabiamila to the letter appointing Adeyemi, the Head of Service admitted that the signature on the appointment letter was different from those on other documents.
“I’m not a forensic expert, but I can clearly see that the signatures are not the same,” she added.
Responding, Gagdi disclosed that forensic experts from the Nigeria Police Force had already confirmed that the signatures on the document did not match those of the genuine signatory.
“The Police Forensic Department has already analysed the signatures and confirmed that those signatures are not the same. In fact, according to them, there was not even an attempt to imitate the signature,” Gagdi said.
He maintained that both the appointment letter and the purported Establishment Act were fake.
“You have clearly stated that you acted on false documents. You have now established, just like we have, that the letter of appointment of the so-called DG is not only forged, it is fake.
“If something is forged, there will be an attempt to imitate the signature. But in this case, the signatures are completely different. So, I will not call it forged; I will say it is fake,” Gagdi declared.
The committee further observed that the document presented as an Act of the National Assembly lacked the basic features of valid legislation.
“Our Acts have citation numbers, Supreme Court numbers, Gazette numbers and Gazette titles. The Act presented here has none of those features,” the chairman added.
Despite admitting shortcomings, Walson-Jack maintained that officials followed established procedures based on the documents submitted.
“Everything was done in accordance with the practice in the office. Out of the 88 ministries, departments and agencies processed, we are really surprised that we were unable to detect that PEAC/PFIPC had actually given us a false Establishment Act and what has now been proved to be a false letter of appointment,” she added.
She assured the committee that her office would strengthen its internal processes.
“We take full responsibility and we will definitely review our processes to make them more fraud-proof,” she said
Adeyemi’s absence
Also appearing before the committee, Deputy Commissioner of Police Olufemi Akinola, Deputy Director of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, represented the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu.
The House committee had, during its sitting on Monday, directed Disu to produce Adeniyi Adeyemi before the panel by noon on Wednesday.
He explained that Adeyemi could not be produced before the committee as directed because he remained in lawful custody under a subsisting court order.
“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 reproduction warrant could be sought from a court of competent jurisdiction to enable the police to comply with this request,” Akinola said.
The committee accepted the explanation and indicated that it would take the necessary legal steps to secure the appropriate court order.
Tense proceedings
Wednesday’s hearing was marked by tense exchanges between the committee and senior government officials.
Throughout the proceedings, Gagdi dominated the session, frequently interrupting witnesses while they were responding to questions and, at one point, stopping another member of the committee from making contributions during the session.
Before the member could make his contribution, Gagdi hit the gavel, leaving the panel member with no option but to keep his peace.
Several officials were unable to complete their explanations before being cut short.
The committee said it had concluded most of the fact-finding phase of its investigation and would present preliminary findings to the public next week before submitting its final report to the House of Representatives after lawmakers resume from recess.
The House of Representatives constituted the Ad-Hoc Committee following allegations that the PFIPC and the PEAC operated as federal agencies without any legal foundation.
Previous testimonies by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Budget Office, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Police Force and other government institutions indicated that the agency secured official recognition using documents that investigators now believe were fabricated.
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The committee is expected to recommend legislative and legal measures against all individuals found to have participated in the alleged fraud, as well as institutional reforms aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future.
Punch