By Teddy Nwanunobi
The last may not have been heard about controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) which has taken another dimension.
On Tuesday, during the resumed hearing of the House of Representatives’ Ad-Hoc Committee investigating the legality and activities of the PFIPC, the committee had summoned the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to appear before it on Thursday (tomorrow) at 12 noon to explain the actions taken by his office after confirming that the PFIPC was not recognised by the Federal Government.
This may have followed confirmation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that it opened two domiciliary accounts linked to the controversial council on the directive of the office of the accountant-general of the federation (OAGF).
Speaking before the committee, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dunoma Ahmed, while distancing the Ministry from the controversial Council, said that it neither recognised the council nor had any official dealings with its alleged Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi.
Daily NewsCraft reports that the House was investigating the legality and activities of the PFIPC, an organisation lawmakers are probing over allegations that it operated without any legal backing or official recognition by the Federal Government. The committee is chaired by the member representing Kanam/Kanke/Pankshin Federal Constituency of Plateau State, Hon Yusuf Gagdi.
Ahmed, who represented the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, told the Committee that the Ministry rejected repeated requests by the organisation after due diligence raised questions about its authenticity.
Presenting the ministry’s position, Ahmed said Adeyemi, who presented himself as Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the PFIPC, wrote to the ministry on three occasions—June 26, 2025; August 5, 2025; and June 5, 2026—seeking collaboration and endorsement to organise a World Investment Summit in Nigeria.
He said the ministry declined all three requests after identifying inconsistencies in the correspondence and raising concerns over the legitimacy of both the council and its purported leadership.
According to the Permanent Secretary, the ministry subsequently wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser on October 16, 2025, requesting clarification on the status of Adeyemi and the PFIPC.
He said the ONSA responded on November 26, 2025, informing the ministry that enquiries made through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President established that Adeyemi was unknown to the Federal Government.
Ahmed further told lawmakers that the ministry never participated in any bilateral or multilateral engagement involving the PFIPC and did not facilitate meetings between the council and any foreign governments, investors or international partners.
He added that no Memorandum of Understanding, treaty or investment agreement was signed through the PFIPC, while no Nigerian mission abroad had any dealings with the organisation because the ministry never recognised or authorised its activities.
According to him, apart from the correspondence already submitted to the committee, “the ministry has no official records relating to the PFIPC.”
He maintained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had “never recognised, collaborated with or engaged the council or its alleged Director-General in any official capacity.”
Reacting to the submission, the Chairman of the committee, Gagdi, expressed concern that despite ONSA’s confirmation in November 2025 that the PFIPC was not a recognised government institution, questions remained over what actions were subsequently taken by the country’s security agencies.
He said the committee had a responsibility to establish whether appropriate measures were taken to prevent the organisation from continuing its activities.
Consequently, the committee summoned Ribadu, and also insisted that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, must personally appear before the committee to provide further clarification on issues arising from the ministry’s submission.
Explaining the decision, Gagdi said the committee needed to determine whether ONSA acted on the information supplied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“It is now the duty of the committee to move further and invite the Office of the National Security Adviser to come and answer the very important question raised by Honourable Abubakar Fulata that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a letter from this agency under investigation, whether it exists or it doesn’t exist.
“What have you done as an office that has the power and capacity to carry out further investigation in respect of this matter? He is to appear before this committee because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received correspondence from the suspended Director-General and suspected foul play and discrepancies.
“The NSA responded that it is an illegal agency. What has the Office of the National Security Adviser done as a security institution after that discovery? If they discovered that the agency does not exist, then appropriate action ought to have been taken. They should come before this committee and explain the actions they have taken,” he said.
The House had earlier constituted the ad-hoc committee to investigate the activities of the PFIPC following allegations that individuals operating under the council’s name held themselves out as representatives of the presidency in dealings with prospective investors despite questions over the council’s legal status.
The ongoing investigation is expected to determine whether any public officials or institutions aided the activities of the organisation and to recommend appropriate legislative or legal action where necessary.
On Monday, the apex bank had said the accounts, one denominated in United States dollars and the other in British pounds sterling, were never funded or operated.
Abdullahi Hamisu, Director of Banking Services at the CBN, Abdullahi Hamisu, while appearing before the House committee investigating the legal basis, operations, and budgetary inclusion of the PFIPC, as well as the N1.3 billion allocated to the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Hamisu, representing Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN, said the bank received a formal mandate dated July 29, 2025, from the OAGF to open the accounts for the ‘Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council’.
He said the CBN carried out its standard account-opening procedures before creating the accounts.
Responding to questions from lawmakers on whether the apex bank requested an enabling law establishing the council before opening the accounts, Hamisu said the CBN acted solely on the mandate received from the accountant-general’s office.
“We don’t ask for an enabling Act. We received a mandate from the office of the accountant-general of the federation to open the accounts for the council,” he said.
The disclosure comes weeks following contradictory statements by the presidency and the OAGF about the status of accounts linked to the controversial PFIPC domiciled in the CBN.
On July 1, the presidency said the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) discovered that Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled director-general of the PFIPC, allegedly used forged documents to create a CBN account by misleading the OAGF.
Presidency’s statement, issued by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, said the police also discovered that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, with nine opened in the names of fictitious agencies known as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Public Private Partnership (FIPA-APP) and the FCT Investment Promotion Act.
However, Bawa Mokwa, the Director of Public Relations at the OAGF, said PFIPC has no operational account with the CBN.
Mokwa said although an application was made to open a CBN account, the process was never completed because the required documentation to activate the account was not submitted.
The controversy surrounding the council became public in June when the presidency distanced itself from the PFIPC, insisting that it does not exist under the current administration — even though the council had an allocation in the 2026 budget, an office at the federal secretariat, and also recruited about 300 staff members.
In a statement, Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, said his office did not appoint Adeniyi Adeyemi for the organisation.
Adeyemi has since challenged Gbajabiamila’s disclaimer and called on the president to establish an independent panel to investigate the matter.