‘Fake’ PFIPC secured budget code but received no govt funds — Reps panel

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has established that the agency secured a budget code but received no government funds, the committee’s Chairman, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, has disclosed.

Gagdi, who made the disclosure during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said the committee’s examination of thousands of pages of financial records showed that no money appropriated by the Federal Government had been released to the agency.

According to him, PFIPC only appeared in the 2026 budget, unlike claims suggesting that it had received government funding in previous years.

“It has not been released… no one Naira as far as appropriation is concerned,” Gagdi said, stressing that the committee had not found any government funds credited to the agency.

He explained that although PFIPC obtained a budget code, the development did not translate into the release of public funds.

Gagdi said the committee was now conducting a forensic examination of the financial records and tracing transactions into and out of accounts associated with the agency.

He disclosed that the investigation had uncovered what he described as a significant number of financial transactions involving individuals, contractors, companies and family members rather than government funds.

“There was a financial transaction not from government, from individuals, contractors, companies, from brothers, from family members that come in and go out,” he said.

The committee chairman also disclosed that the investigation had uncovered 12 agencies allegedly operating under one Bank Verification Number (BVN), alongside 58 active bank accounts.

“When a man can have 12 agencies with one BVN, knowingly well that it can be traced and it can be found, 12! If a man can have 58 accounts that are active, active, 58, that money comes in and goes, you can’t underestimate what such a person can do,” Gagdi said.

He said the committee was particularly interested in establishing the source, destination and purpose of funds that passed through the accounts as part of its money-trail investigation.

On accounts allegedly operated with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Gagdi said the committee had identified about three accounts associated with PFIPC.

He said the Accountant-General of the Federation had communicated with the CBN to facilitate the opening of the accounts based on representations that relevant administrative approvals had been obtained from the Budget Office, the Head of Service and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

According to him, the committee’s investigation suggested that those representations were false.

“They were misled,” he said.

Gagdi also alleged that documents used to establish and operationalise the agency contained forged or questionable official materials.

He alleged that Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi created a nomenclature, “Office of the Director Administration and Support Service,” on a State House letterhead, despite the committee’s finding that such an office did not exist in the Villa.

He further alleged that an individual identified as Akambi Adewale, described in one of the documents as a director, could not be found on the State House nominal roll.

Gagdi said the committee obtained the nominal roll covering the history of the State House and could not find the name.

The lawmaker also alleged that the committee had come across a purported letter of appointment, State House approval, request for a budget code, an alleged Act of the National Assembly, an executive order and other documents which it was investigating for authenticity.

He said the purported Act was neither authenticated nor gazetted and lacked what he described as a “springboard number”.

The committee, according to him, is also examining discrepancies in State House letterheads, logos and reference numbers used in some of the documents.

Gagdi said the investigation had also raised questions about the number of people who may have been involved in the alleged operation, insisting that it was not necessarily a one-man operation.

“A lot of accomplices!” he said when asked whether Adeyemi could have acted alone.

He added that the committee was examining the roles of individuals and officials who may have facilitated different aspects of the agency’s operations, including seconded personnel from government institutions.

The committee chairman further disclosed that the office allegedly occupied by PFIPC was another area under investigation.

He explained that office accommodation within the Federal Secretariat and other public service facilities ordinarily falls under the authority of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, but the office in question was allegedly allocated through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Gagdi said the committee was investigating how the office was secured and whether it had previously been occupied by another presidential appointee.

He said security sources informed the committee that the same office may previously have been occupied by a Special Adviser on Economic Affairs during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The committee has therefore written to the Head of Service to provide further information on the allocation and previous occupants of the office.

Gagdi also disclosed that the committee had interrogated Adeyemi at a police facility after the police informed the lawmakers that he was being held pursuant to a court order.

He said the committee decided not to compel the police to produce him before the lawmakers because doing so could undermine judicial supremacy and the separation of powers.

Instead, members of the committee visited him and conducted a closed-door interrogation.

Gagdi declined to disclose details of the interrogation, noting that Adeyemi was still in police custody and was also facing investigations by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the police cybercrime unit.

He said the committee had received three petitions in connection with the investigation, none of which was against former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu.

According to him, one petitioner alleged that he was defrauded of N400 million after being brought from Ibadan to Abuja and shown a residence as part of the process.

Gagdi said the petitioner presented evidence of four separate transfers amounting to N400 million, allegedly representing Adeyemi’s share for mobilising and facilitating the release of N2 billion for a contract awarded to an Ibadan-based contractor.

He said the committee also invited the Federal Road Safety Corps to verify an official vehicle and number plate allegedly used in connection with the transaction.

On questions surrounding former Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Gagdi said the committee had not ruled out inviting anyone whose involvement was supported by evidence.

He said documents presented to the committee included an appointment letter purportedly signed by Gbajabiamila, but that comparison with other official documents raised questions about the signature and authenticity of the letter.

According to him, about 19 to 22 government agencies had supplied exhibits and correspondence to the committee which did not tally with the disputed appointment letter.

Gagdi said the committee therefore considered the document questionable and did not invite Gbajabiamila at that stage.

“If the evidence relevant before us have warranted inviting Femi, if we have invited Secretary to the Government of the Federation, why can’t we invite Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila?” he asked.

He said the committee’s central concern was to establish how an agency whose legal status was in dispute became incorporated into the administrative and budgetary structure of the Federal Government.

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Gagdi disclosed that the committee had also asked the House to expand its mandate to conduct a broader legislative audit of government agencies across the country.

“If you check our press briefing, we have asked the House to expand the mandate of the committee to do like a legislative auditing of all legitimate agencies that are existing in Nigerian Federation,” he said.

He explained that such an audit would determine which agencies were created through military proclamations, presidential orders or legislation by the National Assembly and help identify institutions whose legal foundations may require further scrutiny.

Gagdi stressed that the committee’s current findings were preliminary and that its final report would be presented on the floor of the House with recommendations.

He said the implementation of the committee’s recommendations would ultimately depend on the decision of the House of Representatives.

“If the House of Representatives approve those prayers, then agencies will be left with no option than to implement what we have asked,” he said.