The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee is looking into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC). They found new issues with documents related to the council's setup. The State House has distanced itself from the council and denied asking for any budget code for it.
At the committee's hearing on Thursday at the National Assembly in Abuja, officials from the State House and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) came to explain their roles in the council's operations. The council is accused of working without proper legal approval.
The investigation is looking into how the PFIPC got official recognition, government approvals, and appeared in federal budget processes, including the 2026 Appropriation Act, even with doubts about its legal status.
Abdulkadri Idris, the Director of Administration representing the Permanent Secretary of the State House, told the lawmakers that the Presidency did not create or approve the council. He said they were unaware of any correspondence asking the Accountant-General of the Federation to create a budget code for it.
"I want to state that we did not send any correspondence or any request to the Office of the Accountant-General regarding this council. We don’t even know anything about this council. We never heard about this council until we started seeing it in the media," Mr Idris said.
He said the State House does not have the power to create government agencies. He added that the documents shown to the committee, which were said to be from the Presidency, were fake.
Mr Idris specifically rejected a document allegedly signed by someone named "Akande Adewale" as director of Administration and Support Services. He said no such official or department exists in the State House.
"I presented the list of Directors of Administration in the State House from 2003 to date, and there was no name resembling Akande Adewale.
"In addition, there is no department known as the Directorate of Administration and Support Services in the State House. We have only the Department of Administration. Akande Adewale has never, ever been Director of Administration in the State House," he said.
The State House also provided official records, including real letterheads and a historical list of its Directors of Administration. They had sent these to the Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre earlier.
Following this, committee chairman Yusuf Gagdi said the evidence showed clear differences between records from the Accountant-General's office and documents from the State House.
"The State House has denied that it ever wrote any letter to the Accountant-General requesting budget codes. Secondly, there is no Directorate of Administration and Support Services as contained in those documents.
"The Accountant-General responded to an office that the State House says does not exist, while the name of the signatory, Akande Adewale, is absent from all official records submitted to this committee," Mr Gagdi said.
He called these inconsistencies a big step forward in the investigation into how government procedures were allegedly misused to make the council seem legitimate.
The State House also said it did not appoint the supposed Director-General of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi. They stated that appointments of heads of federal agencies come from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
"If the president approves any appointment, the conveyance is done by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation," Mr Idris added.
Meanwhile, the FRSC defended its choice to issue seven official federal government number plates to the PFIPC. They said they acted based on documents and information given by the applicants.
Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed told the lawmakers that the application was received through a letter dated 4 April 2025, signed by Adeniyi Adeyemi on behalf of the Office of the Director-General of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
He said this was followed by another letter dated 11 April 2025, with documents outlining the council’s alleged mandate and the vehicles to register.
Mr Mohammed said Mr Adeyemi submitted the application at the FRSC headquarters.
He explained that because the PFIPC claimed to be a new federal agency, the Corps did extra checks. They looked over the supporting documents, checked the government website provided by the applicant, and visited the council’s office at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
"Having completed the foregoing verification processes and being satisfied with the information presented, the Corps approved and allocated seven official federal government Vehicle number plates to the Agency," he said.
The registered vehicles included a 2024 bulletproof Lexus LX, two Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs, and four Toyota Hilux vehicles, which received registration numbers PFIPC 01 to PFIPC 07 after checking their chassis numbers.
Mr Mohammed admitted that the Corps later found out the council was not a real federal government agency.
"It therefore came as a profound shock to the Corps when it subsequently emerged that the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council was not an approved federal government agency and that the representations made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi were false," he said.
He added that the FRSC has started steps to recover the seven official number plates and has improved its verification processes to avoid future mistakes.
During the hearing, Mr Gagdi questioned the trustworthiness of the documents used by the FRSC. He noted that they lacked standard government security features and listed President Bola Tinubu, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, and several ministers as council members.
"Does this look normal to you?" the lawmaker asked.
"No, not at all," the Corps Marshal replied. He insisted that the Corps relied on the information they had at the time, including the operational office, government-domain website, and vehicle verification records.
The committee then told the FRSC to provide details on where all vehicles registered under the PFIPC are now.
Mr Gagdi also announced that the investigation would wrap up next Wednesday and instructed the committee clerk to invite all relevant agencies for the final hearing.
The House formed the ad hoc committee after claims that the PFIPC acted like a federal government agency without legal backing, got official documents and approvals, and got involved in government processes.
The lawmakers said the investigation aims to find those responsible and suggest ways to prevent this from happening again.
Drop your comment
No comments yet — be the first to drop the gist 👇