By Teddy Nwanunobi
As investigations into the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) fraud deepens, two additional fake government agencies have been uncovered to be linked to the self-proclaimed Director-General of the Council, Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, while briefing State House correspondents after presenting the Commission’s interim investigation report to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Aliyu, on Thursday, revealed that investigators discovered two other fictitious government agencies, the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency.
“These agencies were created using forged legislative instruments and were used to open bank accounts for illegal activities,” he said.
He said investigators established that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government and that the PFIPC had no legal backing, having neither been created by an Act of the National Assembly nor by an executive order.
According to the interim findings, the appointment letter used by Adeyemi was forged, while the fake PFIPC unlawfully took over the offices and official instruments previously used by the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).
The ICPC chairman said the syndicate operated from the former PEAC office and engaged in impersonation, false representation and other illegal activities by exploiting gaps in verification procedures and coordination among government agencies.
Aliyu further disclosed that Adeyemi later altered the name of the fake organisation from the Foreign Investment Promotion Council to the Foreign Intervention Promotion Council in an attempt to broaden its scope to include revenue generation.
He said, “The investigation found no funds were approved or disbursed for the fake PFIPC/PEAC, and there were no weaknesses in the State House or CBN system.”
The commission recommended the prosecution of Adeyemi, disciplinary action against public officials alleged to have aided the operation of the fake agency, and reforms to strengthen internal controls across government institutions.
According to the report, officials from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Budget Office of the Federation and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) were identified as collaborators in the scheme.