By The House of Representatives has uncovered fresh details in its investigation into the alleged fraudulent establishment of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), with senior government officials admitting procedural lapses that may have enabled the organisation to obtain official recognition despite lacking any legal foundation.
At the centre of the investigation is the allegation that the promoters of the PFIPC secured approvals from several federal institutions using fake appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents and other forged government records. Lawmakers are now examining how the documents passed through multiple government offices without being detected.
Appearing before the House Ad-Hoc Committee on Wednesday at the National Assembly in Abuja, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, acknowledged that her office should have subjected the documents presented by the organisation to more rigorous verification before granting an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver.
She explained that officials processed the request based on documents presented by representatives of the purported agency, including what appeared to be an Establishment Act and a letter appointing its Director-General. According to her, the documents met the standard administrative requirements at the time, although subsequent investigations have established that they were false.
Walson-Jack described the incident as unprecedented, noting that the Federal Civil Service had not previously encountered a situation in which an organisation allegedly relied on fabricated government records to obtain official approvals. She added that her office would review and strengthen its internal processes to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The committee also heard from officials of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, who explained that an administrative code issued in relation to the PFIPC was intended for the Permanent Secretary of the State House as part of internal verification procedures.
However, lawmakers questioned why the correspondence never reached its intended destination. Instead, evidence before the committee indicated that the letter was collected by the individual presenting himself as the Director-General of the agency. Officials from the Accountant-General’s Office attributed the development to the actions of a staff member, insisting it was an individual failure rather than an institutional breakdown.
Committee Chairman Yusuf Gagdi criticised the handling of the correspondence, arguing that proper administrative procedures would likely have exposed the alleged fraud much earlier. He further disclosed that investigators had established that one of the offices referenced in the documentation did not exist within the State House, raising additional concerns over the authenticity of the records submitted to government agencies.
The panel also questioned the authenticity of the appointment letter purportedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President. During the hearing, Walson-Jack acknowledged visible differences between the signatures on the disputed letter and those on other official documents.
According to the committee, forensic analysis conducted by the Nigeria Police Force concluded that the signatures did not match those of the genuine signatory. Lawmakers also maintained that the document presented as an Act of the National Assembly lacked the identifying features associated with valid legislation, reinforcing their position that the documents were fabricated.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force informed the committee that the suspect at the centre of the investigation could not be produced before lawmakers because he remains in lawful custody under an existing court order. Police representatives requested that the House obtain a reproduction warrant from a competent court before seeking his appearance, a request the committee accepted.
The hearing was marked by tense exchanges between committee members and government officials as lawmakers pressed witnesses on the apparent administrative failures that enabled the alleged scheme to progress. The committee said it had substantially completed its fact-finding exercise and would release preliminary findings before presenting its final report to the House of Representatives after the National Assembly resumes from recess.
