By Stephen Simon
The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) has exonerated the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, of any involvement in the creation, authorization, or activities of the purported federal agency.
Presenting the panel’s preliminary findings in Abuja, Committee Chairman Rep. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi revealed that the investigation uncovered a sophisticated network of forged presidential executive orders, altered Acts of Parliament, fake State House correspondence, and approximately 58 linked bank accounts.
The committee specifically scrutinised a letter purportedly issued and signed by Gbajabiamila appointing Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi as the Director-General of the PFIPC. However, forensic and administrative verification from the State House established that no such appointment was ever made or approved by the Presidency, and that the letterhead, reference numbers, and administrative formatting were completely fabricated.
Far from being implicated, documentary evidence showed that Gbajabiamila acted swiftly upon receiving an alert from the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC). Within 24 hours, the Chief of Staff initiated administrative checks and petitioned key security and anti-graft agencies—including the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)—to investigate the fraudulent entity.
“The documentary evidence presently before the Committee does not establish that the Chief of Staff authorised, approved, established or participated in the activities of the purported organisation,” Gagdi stated, commending Gbajabiamila for his prompt administrative interventions.
Beyond clearing the Chief of Staff, the committee detailed alarming structural breaches used by the fake council to project official legitimacy. The panel discovered a forged “Presidential Executive Order No. 5” dated February 24, 2026, and a electronically altered document falsely presented as an Act of the National Assembly.
The syndicate also forged correspondence to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) using the name of a non-existent State House Director, “Akambi Adewale,” to secure an administrative code.
Through these fraudulent means, the illegal council unlawfully secured an allocation in the 2026 Federal Budget Framework, occupied unauthorized space at the Federal Secretariat Complex, opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and acquired official government vehicle number plates.
The committee further revealed that Adeyemi (also operating as Adeyemi Matthew) is linked to over 58 bank accounts across 30 different entities. The panel is actively investigating an alleged N400 million transaction paid to Adeyemi by a firm under the guise of securing a contract to renovate his purported official residence.
While emphasizing that its findings remain preliminary, the House panel called on anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to complete ongoing investigations, freeze illicit proceeds, and prosecute all principal actors involved in counterfeiting the authority of the Nigerian state.
