Fake Investment Council Probe Deepens as State House Disowns Agency, FRSC Explains Number Plate Approval
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has uncovered fresh inconsistencies surrounding the council’s establishment, as the State House denied any involvement in its creation or operations.
At the committee’s investigative hearing in Abuja on Thursday, officials from the State House and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) appeared before lawmakers to explain their roles in the activities of the council, which is alleged to have operated without legal backing.
The investigation is focused on how the PFIPC allegedly secured official recognition, obtained government approvals and even appeared in aspects of the 2026 federal budget despite questions over its legal status.
Representing the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Director of Administration Abdulkadri Idris told lawmakers that the Presidency neither established the PFIPC nor requested the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to issue it a budget code.
“We never wrote any letter to the Accountant-General regarding this council. In fact, we had no knowledge of its existence until reports started appearing in the media,” Idris said.
He explained that the State House has no constitutional responsibility for creating government agencies and described documents allegedly linking the Presidency to the council as fake.
Idris specifically rejected a document said to have been signed by one “Akande Adewale” as Director of Administration and Support Services, insisting that no such official had ever worked in the State House.
According to him, there is no department known as the Directorate of Administration and Support Services within the Presidency, adding that official records from 2003 to date contain no director bearing that name.
To support its claims, the State House submitted authentic letterheads and a list of past and current Directors of Administration, which had earlier been forwarded to the Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre.
Reacting to the testimony, committee chairman Yusuf Gagdi said the evidence exposed serious contradictions between documents obtained from the Accountant-General’s Office and records provided by the State House.
He noted that while the Accountant-General responded to a request purportedly from the State House, the Presidency had now denied ever sending such correspondence.
“The office the Accountant-General claimed to have received a request from does not even exist in the State House, and the signatory’s name is absent from all official records,” Gagdi said.
He described the revelations as a major breakthrough in the committee’s investigation into how official government procedures may have been manipulated to legitimise the council.
The State House also denied appointing the alleged Director-General of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi, explaining that appointments of heads of federal agencies are made through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation after presidential approval.
Meanwhile, the FRSC defended its decision to issue seven official government number plates to the PFIPC, saying it acted based on documents submitted by the organisation.
FRSC Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed told lawmakers that the agency received an application dated April 4, 2025, signed by Adeyemi on behalf of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
A second letter, dated April 11, 2025, was later submitted alongside documents outlining the council’s mandate and details of the vehicles to be registered.
Mohammed said Adeyemi personally delivered the documents to the FRSC headquarters.
Because the organisation claimed to be a newly established federal agency, the Corps carried out additional checks, including reviewing the submitted documents, verifying the government website provided by the applicants, and physically inspecting the council’s office at the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja.
Based on those checks, the FRSC approved seven official government number plates for the organisation.
The registered vehicles included a 2024 bulletproof Lexus LX, two Toyota Land Cruisers and four Toyota Hilux vehicles, all assigned registration numbers PFIPC 01 to PFIPC 07 after their chassis numbers were verified.
However, the Corps Marshal admitted that the FRSC later discovered the PFIPC was not a recognised federal government agency.
“It came as a shock to us when it emerged that the organisation was not legally established and that the representations made by Mr. Adeyemi were false,” he said.
He added that the FRSC has begun recovering the number plates and has strengthened its verification procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
During the hearing, Gagdi questioned the authenticity of the documents used by the FRSC, pointing out that they lacked standard government security features and unusually listed President Bola Tinubu, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of the Civil Service and several ministers as members of the council.
“Does this look normal to you?” he asked.
“No, it doesn’t,” the Corps Marshal replied, while maintaining that the FRSC relied on the information available at the time.
The committee directed the FRSC to provide the current location and status of all vehicles registered under the PFIPC.
Gagdi also announced that the investigation would conclude next Wednesday and instructed the committee clerk to invite all relevant government agencies for the final hearing.
The House of Representatives set up the committee following allegations that the PFIPC operated without legal authority while obtaining official approvals and integrating itself into government administrative processes. Lawmakers say the probe is aimed at identifying those responsible and recommending measures to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
