The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) has raised concerns over documents that allegedly listed President Bola Tinubu and several senior government officials as members of the organisation’s governing board.
Yusuf Gagdi, chairman of the committee, disclosed this on Thursday during an investigative hearing where lawmakers questioned Shehu Mohammed, Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), over the issuance of seven vehicle number plates to the PFIPC.
The lawmakers were particularly concerned about why the FRSC approved the number plates despite apparent irregularities in documents submitted by the organisation.
Gagdi said the purported PFIPC governing board included Tinubu; George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory; the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; the Attorney-General of the Federation; and the ministers of finance, aviation, agriculture and food security, interior, budget and national planning, marine and blue economy, police affairs, transport, works and power.
According to the committee chairman, the FRSC should have raised questions about a document that purportedly named the President and members of his cabinet as members of the council’s governing board.
He also questioned the acceptance of a purported mandate from the organisation that allegedly lacked official government security features.
“We are trying to expose the leakages so that agencies can close these gaps going forward. It is not to indict anybody,” Gagdi said.
He added that the unusual composition of the purported governing board, alongside the nature of the documents submitted, should have prompted the FRSC to independently verify the organisation’s status with the Presidency and other relevant government institutions before approving its request.
Mohammed defended the FRSC’s actions, telling the committee that the agency followed its standard operating procedures during the application and verification process.
The Corps Marshal said the FRSC received the PFIPC’s application on April 4, 2025, followed by a reminder dated April 11. Both documents were signed by Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi.
He said the application contained documents purporting to establish the council, outlining its mandate and governing structure, as well as details of the vehicles for which official number plates were being sought.
Mohammed said FRSC officials also checked the organisation’s website, which operated on a federal government domain, and visited its office at the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja.
According to him, the website and physical office created the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government organisation.
He added that the FRSC also verified the chassis numbers of the vehicles before approving the number plates.
Mohammed said the agency was subsequently surprised to discover that the PFIPC was not an authorised federal government agency.
He said the FRSC had since begun retrieving all official number plates issued to the organisation and had strengthened its verification procedures to prevent a similar incident from occurring again.
The development comes after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) recommended the prosecution of Adeniyi, the man accused of operating the PFIPC.
Adeniyi had claimed that Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Tinubu, issued his appointment letter. Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, denied the allegation.
The ICPC cleared the Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria of wrongdoing but identified institutional lapses across several ministries, departments and agencies.
Those cited included the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Budget Office and the National Information Technology Development Agency, among others.
Vanguard News
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