The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has advised the prosecution of the promoter behind the phantom Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, after inquiries confirmed that neither he nor the entity possessed any legal authorization from the Federal Government.
The Commission also exposed two extra fraudulent public entities allegedly established by the suspect and spotted administrative vulnerabilities across various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that facilitated the scam.
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, revealed this yesterday following the submission of a preliminary report of the inquiry to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and subsequently briefing reporters. Aliyu noted that the findings were presented precisely 30 days after President Tinubu directed the anti-graft agency to probe the operations of the sham entity.
According to him, inquiries verified that Adeyemi was never designated by the Federal Government or any recognized public authority, and that the fake PFIPC, also designated as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, was never constituted by any statute, executive decree, or other legitimate instrument of state.
The appointment letter presented by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew was completely forged, alongside similar documents used to perpetrate the illegal activities of the fake agency, Aliyu stated. He added that the official gazette the suspect relied upon to legitimize the entity was equally fabricated and had never passed through the lawful procedures required for government publications.
The ICPC head noted that the suspect unlawfully usurped the identity and premises of the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), allegedly trespassing into the office and utilizing it as the phantom entity’s operational base.
He remarked that investigators uncovered widespread impersonation, misrepresentation, and other illicit operations executed under the guise of the bogus institution.
Aliyu further disclosed that the probe unmasked two extra fake bodies allegedly created by the suspect: the Foreign Capital and Wealth Investment Promotion Agency (FCWIPA) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency/Public-Private Partnership (FIPA-PPP).
According to him, counterfeit legislative frameworks styled as enabling Acts were employed to form the entities and streamline the opening of commercial bank accounts through which their transactions were executed.
The ICPC also indicated that procedural and administrative oversights across several major Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) created loopholes that were allegedly exploited by the promoter of the sham Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew.
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The Commission, however, emphasized that its findings do not imply official involvement by the affected institutions, but rather highlight vulnerabilities in internal systems that demand urgent reforms.
The ICPC chief cited the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), the Budget Office of the Federation, and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) among institutions where administrative weaknesses were detected during the inquiry.
According to Aliyu, these system gaps allowed the suspect to run the fraudulent entity and carry out alleged illicit activities before the plot was exposed.
Regarding claims concerning roughly N400 million reportedly connected to the case, the ICPC chairman refrained from commenting, maintaining that it would be inappropriate to discuss matters slated to form part of the prosecution.
“I don’t want to go into that allegation because it is part of the criminal investigation. Once we conclude our work and the matter goes to court, Nigerians will see what our investigation uncovered,” he stated.
Aliyu mentioned that the Commission would nevertheless suggest strategies to reinforce internal safeguards, tighten verification mechanisms, and bolster synergy across state institutions to avert similar abuses going forward, even as it prepares to file criminal counts against the alleged mastermind of the sham PFIPC.
In the meantime, the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged PFIFC yesterday grilled the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) over its choice to rely on paperwork listing President Tinubu and several top government figures as members of the entity’s governing board prior to granting it official Federal Government vehicle number plates.
The issue surfaced during the testimony of the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the FRSC, Shehu Mohammed, before the panel headed by Yusuf Gagdi.
The committee chairman asked the Corps Marshal if the paperwork formed part of the application handed to the FRSC.
Mohammed replied in the affirmative, validating that the mandate was among the documents submitted by the entity during its request for official government vehicle number plates.
Gagdi voiced concern that the details within the paperwork should have instantly triggered red flags within the FRSC’s verification protocol.
Nevertheless, the State House has refuted generating any communication to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) requesting the setup of a budget code for the alleged PFIFC, characterizing the documentation connecting it to the contentious body as fabricated.
The rebuttal came yesterday during the continuation of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee’s inquiry into the alleged unauthorized setup and running of the PFIFC.
Director of Administration, State House, AbdulKadir Idris , maintained that neither the Permanent Secretary nor any official of the Presidency solicited the Accountant-General to issue a budget code for the council.
Idris, who represented the Permanent Secretary, State House, Temitope Peter Fashedemi, told legislators that the State House possessed no awareness of the PFIFC until the matter broke in the media and the institution was summoned by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre.
