Fresh revelations have emerged in the House of Representatives’ investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, admitting that her office failed to carry out sufficient due diligence before approving requests linked to the purported agency.
The admission came during Wednesday’s sitting of the House Ad Hoc Committee investigating the establishment and operations of the PFIPC, which lawmakers insist has no legal backing.
Walson-Jack acknowledged that her office granted an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver after relying on documents that have since been found to be fake.
“We ought to have carried out more due diligence before issuing the authorised establishment and recruitment waiver,” she told the committee, adding that the incident had exposed weaknesses in existing verification procedures.
She explained that officials processed the request after representatives of the purported agency presented what appeared to be an Establishment Act and a letter appointing a Director-General during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence.
However, after reviewing the documents personally, she said it became obvious that the alleged Establishment Act was not authentic.
“With my legal background, I immediately recognised that the document was not a genuine Act,” she said, while also questioning the authenticity of the appointment letter allegedly issued from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
The committee chairman, Rep. Yusuf Gagdi, disclosed that forensic analysis by the Nigeria Police Force had confirmed that the signatures on the appointment letter did not belong to the genuine signatory.
According to him, both the appointment letter and the supposed Establishment Act were fake and lacked the official features of valid government documents.
The committee also uncovered irregularities in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), where an official letter meant for the Permanent Secretary, State House, allegedly ended up in the possession of the self-acclaimed PFIPC Director-General, Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi.
Director of the Federal Project Financial Department, Joshua Luka, told lawmakers that the OAGF deliberately addressed the correspondence to the State House Permanent Secretary as part of its internal verification process.
He, however, blamed the breach on an individual official rather than institutional failure, identifying Bello Abdullahi as the officer who handed the document to Adeniyi instead of ensuring it reached the intended recipient.
Lawmakers faulted the explanation, arguing that the action enabled the alleged fraud to continue unchecked.
The committee further revealed that the Directorate of Administration and Support Services, which appeared on some of the documents, does not exist within the State House.
Meanwhile, the committee accepted the explanation by the Nigeria Police Force for failing to produce Adeniyi before lawmakers as earlier directed.
Representing the Inspector-General of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police Olufemi Akinola said the suspect remains in lawful custody under a valid court order, making it impossible to release him without judicial approval.
The panel said it would seek the necessary court order to facilitate Adeniyi’s appearance before the committee.
The House is investigating how the PFIPC allegedly secured official recognition and processed government correspondence despite lacking legal establishment, with lawmakers expected to present preliminary findings next week before submitting a final report after the National Assembly resumes from recess.
