…Uncover alleged forged documents
By Gift Chapi Odekina
ABUJA — The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged unlawful establishment of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has declared the appointment letter of the purported Director-General of the council fake.
The committee said its investigation uncovered a network of allegedly forged government documents used to obtain official approvals for the establishment of the council.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, disclosed this on Tuesday after a hearing, saying evidence obtained from the Nigeria Police Force, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) and other government agencies confirmed that the letter purportedly appointing Prince Adeyemi as Director-General was not authentic.
Gagdi said the committee also established that the supposed Establishment Act presented to government institutions to facilitate the creation of the agency was allegedly fabricated.
“You have clearly stated that you acted on false documents. The Head of Service has now established, just like we have, that the letter of appointment of the so-called DG is not only forged, it is fake,” he said.
He explained that forensic analysis by the Nigeria Police showed that the signatures on the purported appointment letter did not correspond with authentic signatures from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
“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 because the originator of that letter did not even attempt to imitate the signature of the Chief of Staff to the President,” Gagdi added.
The committee chairman said nine official correspondences from the Office of the Chief of Staff addressed to various government institutions, including the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, National Security Adviser, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Department of State Services, Nigeria Police Force and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were examined.
According to him, the signature on the disputed appointment letter was the only one that differed from the authentic documents reviewed.
Gagdi also alleged that the purported Establishment Act used in processing approvals lacked the required features of a valid National Assembly Act.
“Our Acts of the National Assembly have citation numbers, Gazette numbers, Gazette titles and other security features. The Act presented to the Head of Service had none of these features. It was totally mutilated,” he said.
The committee further alleged that documents submitted to government agencies contained references to a non-existent department within the State House.
“We have equally discovered that the suspect created a fake office in the State House that does not exist at all. There is no Directorate of Administration and Support Services in the State House as reflected in the documents presented before government agencies,” Gagdi said.
He said although the committee had completed most aspects of its investigation, further verification would be carried out before the final report is submitted.
“Based on documentary evidence obtained during the investigation and engagements with relevant government institutions, the committee has uncovered what appears to be an extensive pattern of document forgery,” he stated.
Gagdi added that the alleged creation and use of the purported Department of Administration and Support Services under the Office of the Permanent Secretary, State House, would be subjected to further investigation.
He said the committee would hold final closed-door sessions with remaining agencies before presenting its preliminary findings to Nigerians next week.
“The committee remains committed to conducting a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation in the interest of justice, accountability and the protection of public institutions,” he said.
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