Official documents exclusively obtained by Saturday NGBREAKINGNEWS have cast fresh doubt on the Presidency’s insistence that the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) never existed, revealing that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation received, acknowledged, and acted on correspondence submitted in the council’s name months before the Presidency publicly disowned it.
The documents have surfaced amid the criminal prosecution of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who is accused of operating a fictitious government agency, forging a presidential appointment letter purportedly signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and falsely presenting himself as Director-General of the PFIPC.
The revelations have prompted calls from human rights lawyer Femi Falana for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate both Gbajabiamila and Adeyemi, demands from the African Democratic Congress and the Nigeria Democratic Congress for Gbajabiamila’s immediate removal, and a threat by a coalition of civil society organisations to stage a peaceful protest at the Presidential Villa if no independent investigation is commenced within seven days.
The Documents: What the SGF’s Office Did
The correspondence, dated November 21, 2024, was signed by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri, on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Attached to it was Adeyemi’s November 7, 2024, request for office accommodation for the PFIPC.
Registry stamps show the letter was received by the SGF’s office on November 12 before it was forwarded to the EFCC nine days later.
The forwarding letter, titled “Request for Office Accommodation,” informed the EFCC that three government institutions had applied for office accommodation from recovered Federal Government properties.
The letter specifically identified one of the requests as Ref. No. SH/DG/PFIPC/RQ/107, dated November 7, 2024, submitted by the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council. It stated: “I am directed to forward the attached copies of letters requesting allocation of office accommodation from the recovered Federal Government landed properties for further necessary action.”
The significance of this document is that the SGF’s office, one of the most senior administrative offices in the Federal Government, did not reject the PFIPC’s correspondence as emanating from a fictitious agency. Instead, it processed the request in the ordinary course of government business and forwarded it to the EFCC for action alongside requests from two other government institutions.
What Adeyemi Claimed the PFIPC Was
In his accompanying letter to the SGF, Adeyemi presented the PFIPC as a Federal Government investment promotion agency with a comprehensive mandate.
He described the council as responsible for “attracting foreign direct investment into Nigeria” and claimed it “also serves as the resource and coordinating centre for the Nation’s Foreign Investment Promotion activities — a One-Stop-Shop for Investments centre coordinating investment-related activities across ministries, departments and agencies and promoting Nigeria as a preferred investment destination.”
According to the letter, the council “facilitates the interaction between public and private sectors, and has an active role in policy advocacy and promotes a positive image of Nigeria as a country that is attractive to foreign investors.”
The letter further stated that the council “liaises with all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to develop, compile and collate data and information, serving as the repository of information on investment opportunities in Nigeria” and that “as a one-stop investment centre, it coordinates all actions to ensure that investors, both potential and existing, receive the best possible support from the MDAs.”
The vision was described as making “Nigeria the world’s preferred investment destination” and the mission as identifying, promoting, and facilitating “the exploitation of opportunities for private sector investments that will create jobs for, and promote prosperity and the well-being of the People of Nigeria.”
The Criminal Prosecution
Adeyemi and two others, identified as Femi and Anu, who are said to be at large, are facing eight counts of conspiracy, forgery, impersonation, and related offences before the Federal High Court in Abuja. The alleged offences were committed between 2024 and 2025.
The charges, brought under the Miscellaneous Offences Act and the Penal Code, accuse the defendants of creating a fictitious Federal Government agency and using forged documents bearing presidential insignia, reference numbers, and official seals.
Count Two charges that Adeyemi “forged an appointment letter purportedly issued by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.”
Count Five alleges that Adeyemi falsely presented himself as the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
The Federal Government has listed Gbajabiamila and 10 others as witnesses in the case. Among those listed are three officials of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The Police Investigation
An interim report by the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit, filed as part of the court processes, stated that the investigation was triggered by a petition from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
According to the report, “The attention of the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President was drawn to the activities of some individuals and groups who were fraudulently forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the said office.”
Police alleged that Adeyemi presented himself as the head of the agency and held meetings with both Nigerians and foreign nationals in that capacity, including a meeting with diplomats at the Wells Carlton Hotel in Abuja under the banner of the council.
The report stated that Adeyemi “went as far as writing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, soliciting a Note Verbale to the Embassy of the United States of America to facilitate the issuance of entry visas for some of his purported staff members.”
Police said Adeyemi was arrested on October 27, 2025, following surveillance and intelligence gathering. Search warrants were executed at his office and residence in Suleja, Niger State, where investigators recovered alleged forged appointment letters, official letterheads, correspondence addressed to MDAs, and documents bearing presidential insignia.
Police further alleged that Adeyemi told investigators that one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola assisted him in procuring the appointment letter. However, Tanimola was later confirmed to have died in a fire incident in Abuja.
It was also alleged that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, including some opened in the names of purported government agencies.
No Trace of PFIPC at Federal Secretariat
Saturday NGBREAKINGNEWS visited the Federal Secretariat in Abuja in an attempt to locate the purported office of the PFIPC but found none. The Health and Education Complex and other sections of the Secretariat were searched, including the floor housing the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and other offices. Security personnel and civil servants contacted during the visit said they were unaware of the existence or location of the PFIPC’s office. No signpost bearing the agency’s name was found anywhere within the Secretariat.
Further checks showed that the agency previously operated a website on the Federal Government’s domain: https://www.pfipc.gov.ng/. Although the website was no longer accessible, an open-source intelligence check indicated that the domain was last active in April 2025.
The Presidency’s Response
The Presidency has issued three official responses to the controversy.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, maintained that the PFIPC was fictitious, outlining the criminal case against Adeyemi, the police investigation report, the charges filed, and what the Presidency described as “his long history of fraudulent conduct.”
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, vowed that internal collaborators within government institutions who allegedly enabled Adeyemi to operate for months without detection would be identified and prosecuted.
“What is not in doubt is that internal collaborators enabled Adeniyi to get this far. That is precisely what investigators from the DSS, the Police and the EFCC must now unravel. The criminal network within the affected institutions must be dismantled, and everyone found to have played a role should be arrested and prosecuted,” Ajayi stated.
Ajayi described Adeyemi as “an irredeemable con artist” attempting to use Gbajabiamila’s name as “his last straw” and accused him of exploiting “Nigerian public psychology” to shield himself from criminal accountability.
The presidential aide acknowledged that systemic weaknesses had allowed the alleged fraud to flourish but argued that the system ultimately detected and exposed it. He explained that officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs became suspicious after the PFIPC allegedly began performing functions similar to those of the investment commission and hosting meetings with foreign diplomats without notifying the ministry. Both institutions subsequently lodged formal complaints.
“That is a system functioning as it should. It is a system capable of detecting an aberration,” Ajayi stated.
Falana: Presidency Lacks Constitutional Authority to Exonerate Anyone
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana faulted the Presidency’s position, arguing that it lacked the constitutional authority to exonerate anyone connected with the matter. He called on the ICPC to conduct an independent investigation into both Gbajabiamila and Adeyemi.
Falana also demanded explanations over the alleged budgeting of N24 billion for the purported agency and how it was able to open an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
ADC, NDC Demand Gbajabiamila’s Removal
The African Democratic Congress described the government’s response as exposing “the staggering depth of institutional decay” under the current administration.
“The issues involved point directly at the heart of national governance and raise fundamental questions about institutional integrity and must therefore be treated with the seriousness they deserve,” the party stated.
The ADC posed the central question: if the Presidency’s position is correct that the PFIPC never existed, Nigerians deserve an explanation as to how an organisation with no legal existence allegedly secured recruitment approvals, appeared in government budget documents, corresponded with public institutions, engaged foreign diplomats, and interacted with multiple government agencies.
The party argued that the Presidency’s decision to focus on clearing Gbajabiamila rather than explaining how the alleged scheme operated suggested that “the administration is either complicit or incompetent.”
The ADC also accused the Federal Government of applying double standards, citing the swift deployment of the ICPC, EFCC, and DSS over allegations involving former Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
The NDC expressed concern over claims that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved 314 staff positions for the alleged agency. It accused the Tinubu administration of using the council to siphon public funds with the active involvement of senior government officials.
Both parties demanded Gbajabiamila’s immediate removal to pave the way for what they described as an impartial investigation.
CSOs Demand Probe of CBN Accounts and Budget Allocations
A coalition of civil society organisations called for an independent investigation into allegations surrounding accounts allegedly opened with the Central Bank of Nigeria and budgetary allocations linked to the PFIPC.
The coalition urged President Tinubu to direct the ICPC to investigate the allegations involving the Office of the Chief of Staff.
“A nation cannot be run on rumour, and it cannot be defended by silence. That is the crossroads at which Nigeria now stands,” the coalition stated.
The coalition called on Gbajabiamila to resign or temporarily step aside to allow an unhindered investigation and demanded periodic public updates and the eventual publication of the final report.
It warned that if no visible steps were taken within seven days to commence an independent probe, it would stage a peaceful protest at the Presidential Villa.
The Unanswered Questions
The controversy leaves several critical questions unanswered. How did the SGF’s office process and forward correspondence from an agency the Presidency says never existed without verifying its legitimacy? How did the PFIPC allegedly secure a website on the Federal Government’s .gov.ng domain? How did it allegedly open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria? How did it allegedly appear in government budget documents? How did 314 staff positions allegedly receive approval from the Head of Service? How did the purported Director-General conduct meetings with foreign diplomats without being intercepted? And why did it take until the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised complaints for the alleged fraud to be detected, when the SGF’s own office had been processing the PFIPC’s correspondence?
The Presidency’s acknowledgment that “internal collaborators” enabled the alleged scheme, combined with the documentary evidence that the SGF’s office itself processed the PFIPC’s requests, raises questions about the extent of institutional complicity, the adequacy of internal verification mechanisms within the Federal Government, and whether the prosecution of Adeyemi alone will be sufficient to address what appears to be a systemic failure involving multiple government offices and officials.
The criminal case against Adeyemi is pending before the Federal High Court, Abuja. The EFCC and the SGF’s office had not responded to enquiries as of the time of the report.
The post “Fictitious Council Processed By SGF’s Office” — Documents Show Correspondence Was Received, Forwarded Months Before Presidency’s Disclaimer appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.
