The House of Representatives’ probe into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council uncovered fresh admissions on Wednesday, with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, conceding that her office failed to carry out adequate due diligence before approving the purported agency, while the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation admitted that an official diverted government correspondence linked to the scheme.
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation also admitted that an official letter intended for the Permanent Secretary, State House, was instead handed to the alleged promoter of the agency, a lapse lawmakers said helped sustain what they described as an elaborate fraud.
The admissions came as the House Ad-Hoc Committee investigating the alleged creation of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council without legal backing said it had uncovered a network of fake appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents and fictitious government offices allegedly used to secure official recognition from several federal institutions.
The committee is probing how Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, who presented himself as the Director-General of the PFIPC, allegedly obtained government approvals using forged appointment letters, fake Acts of the National Assembly and other fabricated official documents despite the agency having no legal foundation.
Chairman of the committee, Yusuf Gagdi, said the investigation had exposed serious procedural failures across multiple government institutions, enabling the purported agency to receive official recognition.
Accountant-General’s Office admits internal lapse
Appearing before the panel, Director of the Federal Project Financial Department in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Joshua Luka, explained that the office only issued an administrative code after receiving what appeared to be an official request from the State House.
According to him, the code was deliberately addressed to the Permanent Secretary, State House, rather than the agency itself as part of internal checks.
“As part of our due diligence, we conveyed 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.
However, the committee rejected the explanation after evidence showed the correspondence never reached the Permanent Secretary but was instead collected by Adeyemi.
Gagdi further disclosed that the Directorate of Administration and Support Services, which appeared on the correspondence, did not exist within the State House.
“There is no Directorate of Administration and Support Services in the State House. That office does not exist,” he said.
He faulted officials of the Accountant-General’s Office for allowing the suspect to collect official correspondence intended for another government office.
Luka, however, insisted the failure was the action of an individual official rather than an institutional breakdown.
“The problem here was not an office lapse; it was an individual lapse,” he said.
He identified Bello Abdullahi, who was present at the hearing, as the official responsible for handling the correspondence. Abdullahi admitted releasing the letter to Adeyemi but was prevented from explaining the circumstances by the committee chairman.
HoS admits office relied on fake documents
Appearing before the panel, Walson-Jack acknowledged that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service acted on documents that have since been established to be fake.
“We now… concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in issuing an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC,” she said.
She explained that representatives of the purported agency attended the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence, presenting what appeared to be an Establishment Act and a letter appointing a Director-General.
Under existing procedures, she said, newly established agencies seeking recruitment approval are required to submit an enabling Act, the appointment letter of their chief executive and other supporting documents.
Her office processed the request based on those documents.
Walson-Jack described the incident as unprecedented.
“In almost a century of the Federal Civil Service, we have never encountered a situation like this. Criminals always try to be a step ahead of law enforcement.”
However, under questioning, she admitted the purported Establishment Act was obviously inauthentic.
“I have almost 30 years of legal practice experience and immediately I saw it, I knew it was not real.”
She also questioned the authenticity of the appointment letter purportedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, saying the signature differed from genuine documents signed by Femi Gbajabiamila.
“I’m not a forensic expert, but I can clearly see that the signatures are not the same.”
Gagdi said forensic analysis by the Nigeria Police Force had already confirmed the signatures did not belong to the genuine signatory.
“There was not even an attempt to imitate the signature,” he said.
The committee also found that the document presented as an Act of the National Assembly lacked the citation, gazette number and other statutory features of valid legislation.
Despite admitting shortcomings, Walson-Jack maintained that officials followed established procedures based on the documents submitted and pledged to strengthen internal verification processes.
“We take full responsibility and we will definitely review our processes to make them more fraud-proof.”
Police explain Adeyemi’s absence
Deputy Commissioner of Police Olufemi Akinola, representing the Inspector-General of Police, told the committee that Adeyemi could not be produced before lawmakers because he remained in lawful custody under a subsisting court order.
He advised the committee to obtain a production warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction to enable the police comply with its request.
The committee accepted the explanation and said it would take the necessary legal steps.
Tense hearing
Wednesday’s hearing was marked by repeated interruptions as Gagdi frequently cut off witnesses while they attempted to answer questions. He also prevented another committee member from making a contribution by striking the gavel before the lawmaker could speak.
The committee said it had substantially concluded the fact-finding phase of the investigation and would present preliminary findings next week before submitting its final report to the House after lawmakers resume from recess.
