Official documents exclusively obtained by Saturday PUNCH have raised fresh questions about the Presidency’s insistence that the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) never existed.
The records show that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) received, acknowledged and acted on correspondence submitted in the name of the PFIPC months before the Presidency publicly disowned the body.
A forwarding letter dated November 21, 2024, signed by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri, shows the SGF’s office formally processed a request by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who styled himself Director‑General of the PFIPC, for office accommodation from recovered Federal Government properties. Registry stamps on the documents indicate the SGF received Adeyemi’s submission on November 12, 2024, and forwarded it to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) nine days later.
The SGF’s cover letter, titled “Request for Office Accommodation,” said three government institutions had applied for space from recovered federal landed properties. It specifically identified one application as Ref. No. SH/DG/PFIPC/RQ/107, dated November 7, 2024, and attributed it to the Director‑General of the PFIPC.
Adeyemi’s attached letter described the PFIPC as “a Federal Government investment promotion agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment into Nigeria.” He said the council “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.”
The submission outlined the PFIPC’s purported mandate: facilitating public‑private interaction, coordinating support for potential and existing investors, compiling data on investment opportunities across MDAs, and undertaking policy advocacy to promote Nigeria’s image abroad. The letter also styled the PFIPC’s vision as making “Nigeria … the world’s preferred investment destination.”
The documents have surfaced amid criminal proceedings against Adeyemi. He is charged before the Federal High Court in Abuja with conspiracy, forgery, impersonation and related offences, including allegedly operating a fictitious government agency and forging a presidential appointment letter purportedly signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. The prosecution says the alleged offences occurred between 2024 and 2025.
The eight‑count charge sheet alleges Adeyemi and two others — identified as Femi and Anu and said to be at large — created a fictitious federal agency and used forged documents bearing presidential insignia, reference numbers and official seals to give it legitimacy. Count Two alleges Adeyemi forged an appointment letter purporting to have been issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and signed by the Chief of Staff. Count Five alleges he falsely presented himself as the PFIPC Director‑General.
The Federal Government has listed Gbajabiamila and 10 others, including three officials of the Office of the Accountant‑General of the Federation, as witnesses in the case.
Police and court documents filed in the matter say the investigation began with a petition from the Office of the Chief of Staff, which flagged the circulation of forged appointment letters and other falsified documents. An interim report from the Inspector‑General of Police Monitoring Unit filed in court alleges the forged documents carried falsified signatures, reference/folio numbers and seals and were used to create leadership positions in a non‑existent agency. Investigators say Adeyemi held meetings with Nigerians and foreign nationals under the council’s banner, conducted official correspondence with MDAs and sought diplomatic assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate visas for purported staff.
Adeyemi was arrested on October 27, 2025, following surveillance and intelligence operations, the police said. Search warrants executed at his office and residence in Suleja, Niger State, reportedly yielded exhibits including alleged forged appointment letters, letterheads, correspondence to ministries and documents bearing presidential insignia.
The Presidency has maintained that the PFIPC was fictitious. In a statement this week, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, set out the criminal case against Adeyemi and described his conduct as long‑standing fraud. The Presidency has called for prosecution of Adeyemi and any internal collaborators who allegedly enabled him.
Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said investigators from the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force and the EFCC had been tasked with uncovering the full extent of what the Presidency described as a criminal network within government institutions. Ajayi accused Adeyemi of attempting to use public anger over corruption to evade accountability by dragging the Chief of Staff into the controversy, and described the suspect as “an irredeemable con artist.”
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana faulted the Presidency’s move to categorise the matter administratively and called for an independent probe by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) into both Gbajabiamila and Adeyemi. Falana also demanded explanations over reported budget lines totalling N24bn allegedly connected to the PFIPC and how an account was opened at the Central Bank of Nigeria in the agency’s name.
Opposition parties renewed calls for independent investigations and for Gbajabiamila’s removal. The African Democratic Congress and the Nigeria Democratic Congress described the controversy as a major corruption scandal and demanded an impartial probe into alleged approvals for recruitment, budget inclusions, banking arrangements and interactions with foreign diplomats.
A coalition of civil society organisations likewise urged President Tinubu to direct the ICPC to investigate all aspects of the affair, including alleged CBN accounts and appropriation items linked to the PFIPC. The coalition asked Gbajabiamila to resign or step aside temporarily to allow an unhindered probe and warned it would stage a peaceful protest at the Presidential Villa if no visible steps were taken within seven days to commence an independent investigation.
Attempts by our reporters to locate a PFIPC office at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, proved unsuccessful. A correspondent searched the Health and Education Complex and other sections of the Secretariat, but found no signage or premises bearing the agency’s name. Civil servants and security personnel spoken to said they were unaware of any PFIPC office in the complex.
Open‑source checks showed a PFIPC website on a government domain — https://www.pfipc.gov.ng/ — that was last active in April 2025 but was inaccessible at the time of filing.
Efforts to obtain comment from the EFCC were unsuccessful. Calls to the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, went unanswered and a text message to the EFCC seeking reaction did not receive a reply. The Special Adviser on Media to the SGF, Yomi Odunuga, asked to review the documents before commenting.
This report will be updated if further responses are received.
