***Seeks administrative clearance to appear before Reps panel
By Henry Ojelu
The embattled Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, PFIPC, Mr. Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, has asked the House of Representatives to issue an administrative clearance to allow him testify in the investigative hearing of the lower chamber.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, had at the last sitting of the ad-hoc panel investigating the issue last Wednesday, told lawmakers that the police couldn’t produce Adeyemi before the panel because court clearance was needed to present him.
But in a statement by his legal team late Sunday, Adeyemi, currently in custody, said any legislative report on the PFIPC scandal without his testimony was “fundamentally flawed.”
Adeyemi’s legal team is led by Festus Akhigbe.
Adeyemi’s legal team said their client was being framed as an “isolated, mastermind impostor who single-handedly fabricated a Federal Government agency.”
The legal team said the administrative footprints of the PFIPC indicate a different story from the narrative being portrayed in the public.
Institutional actions, back up
The legal team said the House of Representatives must probe the “undisputed institutional actions that created and validated” the PFIPC.
“The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, formally acknowledged documentation and facilitated official office allocations within the Federal Secretariat Complex.
“If these documents were crude forgeries, how did the central administrative engine of the Federal Government act upon them?
“The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, OAGF, and Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, acted on official documentation to issue administrative budget codes, grant self-accounting status, post federal civil service staff to the council, and officially open operational accounts.
“The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, OHCSF, formally approved the establishment structure and granted recruitment waivers that enabled the onboarding of three hundred and fourteen (314) personnel.
“The Budget Office of the Federation and National Assembly processed and vetted documentation leading to the formal insertion of a N1.302 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act, passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and signed into law by the President.
“Security agencies and anti-graft bodies, heads of major security agencies attended programmes organised by the council. Furthermore, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, allocated a property to the council, requested a N300 million processing consideration, and its leadership presented a plaque of recognition to the council’s leadership,’’ Adeyemi’s legal team stated.
The team said it was an “administrative impossibility for an unassisted individual” to mislead multiple agencies of the Federal Government.
It alleged that their client was “being made a scapegoat to cover up deep-seated institutional lapses, procedural breakdowns and internal approvals within the government structure.
“In light of the ongoing proceedings by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, we formally request that the panel issue the necessary administrative clearance to allow our client, Prince Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, to appear in person and testify.
Report withoutmy input flawed
“Any investigative outcome or final legislative report produced without affording our client a direct hearing would be fundamentally flawed, incomplete and a breach of the constitutional right to fair hearing (audi alteram partem).
“To reach a definitive conclusion, the committee must examine not only institutional witnesses but also the primary subject at the centre of this controversy.”
The controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, erupted after the Presidency disowned the body, declaring that it was never established through any law, executive order or presidential directive, despite operating publicly as a Federal Government agency.
The council had functioned for years under the leadership of its Director-General, Prince Adeyemi, engaging government institutions, foreign investors and diplomatic missions, while presenting itself as an agency responsible for attracting foreign interventions and investment into Nigeria.
It reportedly operated from the Federal Secretariat in Abuja and was allocated about N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The saga took a dramatic turn when the Presidency announced that the PFIPC lacked legal backing and directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to investigate its establishment, operations and funding.
The probe is expected to determine how the council obtained official recognition, secured budgetary allocations, operated bank accounts and allegedly used government documents and insignia without lawful authorisation.
The controversy has since widened beyond the alleged existence of a “fake” government agency to expose possible institutional failures within Nigeria’s public administration. Lawmakers have questioned how an entity later declared unauthorised found its way into the national budget and operated for years without raising red flags.
Appearing before the House of Representatives Committee investigating the matter, the Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, maintained that the Budget Office did not create the PFIPC but merely processed submissions based on existing government records and administrative codes.
The explanation has shifted attention to other agencies involved in the budget preparation and approval process.
The PFIPC affair has, therefore, evolved into a broader governance issue, raising concerns about weaknesses in budget scrutiny, inter-agency coordination, document verification and oversight within the federal bureaucracy.
The outcome of the ongoing investigations by the ICPC and the National Assembly is expected to determine how the council came into existence, whether public funds were improperly accessed, and if public officials will be held accountable for any wrongdoing.
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