We contacted NSA to ascertain status of PFIPC — PS Foreign Affairs

…as Reps invite NSA, Minister of Foreign Affairs to ascertain action taken on Prince Adeniyi

…to meet Minister of Justice, Accountant General today

Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Umar Ahmed, on Tuesday disclosed that the ministry sought the intervention of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) following discrepancies observed in the two letters sent by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC) in 2025.

Ambassador Ahmed stated this in Abuja during the resumed investigative hearing into the ‘circumstances surrounding the existence and operations of PFIPC and its inclusion in the federal budget framework’ held at the instance of an ad hoc committee chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi.

He confirmed that Prince Adeyemi approached the ministry on three different occasions, requesting the ministry’s collaboration and endorsement to enable him to host the World Investment Summit in Nigeria, both in 2025 and 2026.

“Specifically, the Ministry received the first, second and third requests on 26th June, 2025, 5th August, 2025, and 5th June, 2026 respectively. Guided by extant rules and regulations as well as the necessity of carrying out due diligence before obliging any request, the Ministry, however, did not take any action on the requests.

“The ministry’s refusal to oblige the requests was further necessitated by some of the discrepancies observed in the letters submitted by Prince Adeyemi and the ongoing investigation on the legitimacy of the PFIPC and the personality of its alleged Director-General.

“Furthermore, it is pertinent to state that having discovered the discrepancies on the requests submitted by Prince Adeyemi, the Ministry, on 16th October, 2025, wrote a letter to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), requesting clarification on the status of Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi Matthew as Director-General of the PFIPC.

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“In response, the ONSA reverted to the Ministry on 26th November, 2025, indicating that the responses it received from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and Chief of Staff (CoS) to Mr President revealed that Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew is unknown to any office of the federal government.”

In line with the ONSA’s response, Ambassador Umar disclosed that the ministry did not participate in any diplomatic engagement, bilateral and multilateral discussions held by the PFIPC.

While arguing that PFIPC did not facilitate or receive any foreign investors, partners, and delegations through the ministry, he maintained that from “available records in the Ministry, there is no any document, Memorandum of Understanding, and agreement signed with foreign governments by the Council. The Ministry did not play any role with the Council in promoting Nigeria’s investment abroad.

“No Nigerian mission had interaction with the PFIPC since they did not receive any directive from the Ministry in that regard, in line with the Ministry’s extant procedures and line of communication; and the Ministry does not have any other document linked to the PFIPC apart from the ones indicated above.

“Flowing from the above, I wish to respectfully conclude by saying that the Ministry has never had any official interaction or engagement with the PFIPC or its alleged Director-General.”

However, when asked whether the Ministry conveyed the ONSA response to Prince Adeyemi, the Permanent Secretary who answered in the negative, said that the Ministry did not have any further communication to him.

In the same vein, Hon. Gagdi, who acknowledged the NSA response that the council is illegal, expressed worry on how “all of a sudden we saw the agencies engaging other foreign nationals in a diplomatic function that needs to be coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“In addition to reporting (to ONSA), which we commend you for doing that, and we will need further explanation from the Office of the National Security Adviser, don’t you think it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to monitor agencies of government and sanction them when they carry out responsibility that ought to be cleared and approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?”

In his response, Ambassador Umar, who affirmed that some of the officials acted in error by meeting with any Organisations without recourse to the Ministry, however, said, “But we do from time to time send out circulars to inform them that it is necessary to follow the laid-down channels of communication as laid down in the Vienna Convention.

“But, you know, somehow, they do interact directly with organisations without recourse to the ministry. We always express our concerns on this.”

Worried by the development, the Ad-hoc Committee resolved to invite the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to appear before the Committee with a view to give update on the action taken on the subject matter.

The lawmakers also resolved that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Economic Adviser to the President as well as Secretariat of the Economic Council should appear on Thursday to explain the level of their engagement with the phantom Council.

In his ruling, Hon. Gagdi confirmed that the Permanent Secretary has submitted copies of the relevant correspondence exchanged between the Ministry and oNSA.

Meanwhile, the Ad-hoc Committee is expected to meet with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General for the Federation as well as Accountant General of the Federation by 3pm today.