The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the activities of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) yesterday said it had uncovered at least 29 allegedly forged official documents linked to the fake agency and its self-acclaimed Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew.
Committee Chairman Yusuf Gagdi disclosed this during the appearance of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, before the panel.
The committee has previously questioned top government officials, including the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, and a director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as part of its investigation.
Gagdi said the investigation had uncovered forged documents purportedly issued by the State House, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Federal Ministry of Finance and other government institutions.
Among the documents was one allegedly bearing the forged signature of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
According to him, 13 civil servants linked to the operations of the purported agency from the OSGF, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service have been summoned to appear before the panel tomorrow to explain their roles.
The committee directed the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, to produce Adeyemi before it by noon tomorrow.
Adeyemi has been in police custody since his arrest at his hideout in Osun State on July 15.
His arrest followed a bench warrant issued after he allegedly failed to appear in court to answer criminal charges filed against him by the police.
Gagdi said the committee needed the suspect to clarify issues arising from the documents before it.
“This committee clearly needs the suspected DG to appear before it. People’s names are involved. People’s integrity is involved. Institutional names are involved. Institutional integrity is involved. It is no longer optional.
“We need him here to confirm some documents before us in a manner that will not undermine our investigation, so that we can conclude our assignment and submit our report on time,” he said.
An Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bashir Abdullahi, who represented the IGP, confirmed before the committee that some of the documents issued in the name of the purported agency were fake.
He said although police investigations were still ongoing, the Force had already filed an eight-count charge against the suspect before the Federal High Court.
“The Police investigated part of this matter last year and filed an eight-count charge before the Federal High Court. The case is ongoing,” he said.
According to Abdullahi, the suspect has been arrested and arraigned, adding that disclosing further details could prejudice the ongoing investigation and judicial proceedings.
“We do not want to say things that are still under investigation. Doing so could prejudice the investigation and influence public opinion before the court reaches a decision,” he said.
The committee, however, sought confirmation of documentary evidence already before it.
The police confirmed that on October 17, 2025, the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned security agencies over allegations against Adeyemi, leading to investigations that culminated in criminal charges bordering on conspiracy and fraud.
The Force also confirmed receiving another petition alleging that Adeyemi falsely presented himself as the Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
According to the police, the petition alleged that the suspect used the purported office to secure accommodation at the Federal Secretariat, sought approval to recruit about 300 staff, attempted to insert about $1.3 billion into the 2026 Appropriation Bill for the non-existent agency and planned a World Investment Summit under the platform of the council.
During the hearing, lawmakers compared signatures on documents allegedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President with authentic correspondence obtained from the police.
Asked whether the signatures matched, the police officer replied that they did not.
The committee said the discrepancy reinforced concerns that official State House documents had been forged.
Gagdi said documentary evidence received from several government institutions contradicted documents allegedly issued by the purported agency.
He added that many of the affected institutions had already appeared before the committee and disowned the documents attributed to them.
The chairman stressed that the committee was careful not to compel the police to disclose information that could jeopardise ongoing criminal investigations.
“We are avoiding a situation where the police will be pushed into making statements that could undermine their ongoing investigation,” he said.
He assured that the House investigation would continue independently and that its final report could recommend further action by security agencies.
Ogunjimi gave lawmakers a chronological account of every interaction between the Treasury and the purported council from November 2024 till date.
He maintained that every administrative action taken by the Office of the Accountant-General followed established government procedures based on documents presented to the Treasury.
He noted that the initial interface occurred in November 2024, before he assumed office.
Addressing the creation of an administrative code, Ogunjimi stated that the Treasury received a letter dated November 7, 2024, bearing State House letterhead (Ref: SHPSPFIPC/RQ107), requesting a code to project, account, and report for the council.
Following standard administrative procedures, code 0111062001 was generated. Approval was conveyed to the State House on November 29, 2024 (Ref: OAGF/CED/NCO/02/V6727), with a copy sent to the Budget Office of the Federation.
Ogunjimi emphasised that the Treasury merely acted on an official State House request.
Regarding self-accounting status, the council requested this standing via a letter dated January 13, 2025. On January 17, 2025, the Treasury outlined the requirements under Financial Regulation FR/16022.
According to him, after the council indicated readiness on March 12, 2025, two Treasury officers inspected its office at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Abuja.
Rather than granting full self-accounting status, the inspection team recommended a six-month provisional approval due to unmet conditions. This provisional status was granted on March 26, 2025.
Deployment of staff members
Clarifying staff postings, Ogunjimi explained that two Treasury personnel had originally been deployed in 2010 and 2013 to the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President.
The purported council occupied that same office space and absorbed the two officers without informing the Treasury.
When the council later requested five additional staff members, the Treasury approved only three.
Ogunjimi noted that the Treasury only discovered the absorption of the original two officers after the controversy became public.
Opening of an account
According to Ogunjimi, on July 11, 2025, the council requested one Treasury Single Account (TSA) and two domiciliary accounts (USD and GBP) in the name of the “World Investment Summit” to facilitate foreign currency inflows.
While the Central Bank of Nigeria approved the opening of the two domiciliary accounts strictly for inflows on August 13, 2025, the TSA request was declined. History
Furthermore, the domiciliary accounts were never operationalised because the council failed to meet the required conditions.
Addressing funding, Ogunjimi confirmed receiving a March 20, 2025 memo from the Ministry of Finance seeking advice on a N27,395,510,136 take-off grant for Presidential consideration.
He said because there was no allocation in the 2025 Service-Wide Vote or agency budget, the Treasury took no action and disbursed no funds.
Ogunjimi affirmed that no funds was ever released to the council under personnel, overhead, capital, or intervention heads.
He maintained that the Treasury acted in good faith on standard procedures and official-looking documentation, discovering only later that the documents were forged. (The Nation)
