Fresh revelations have emerged in the House of Representatives’ investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), with the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, disclosing that a forged State House letter was used to secure official government recognition for the purported agency.

Ogunjimi made the disclosure on Monday while appearing before the House Ad Hoc Committee investigating how the organisation, which the Federal Government has described as non-existent, was able to operate within government structures. Lawmakers are probing how the agency allegedly obtained office space at the Federal Secretariat, sought budgetary allocations, recruited personnel and processed official government documentation using documents believed to have been forged.

Treasury Processed Request Believed to Be Genuine

Presenting his testimony, Ogunjimi said the Office of the Accountant-General first received correspondence relating to the purported agency in November 2024.

According to him, a letter dated November 7, 2024, bearing what appeared to be an official State House reference number, requested the creation of an administrative code for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council to facilitate budgeting, accounting and financial reporting.

Believing the correspondence to be authentic, the Office of the Accountant-General followed established procedures by creating the administrative code and communicating its approval to the State House, with a copy also forwarded to the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.

Following that approval, the office received additional requests from the organisation, including applications for self-accounting status, deployment of personnel, the opening of Treasury Single Account and domiciliary accounts, as well as requests for funding approvals.

No Public Funds Released, ₦27.4bn Request Rejected

Despite the administrative approvals, Ogunjimi insisted that no government funds were disbursed to the organisation.

“It is important to note that no funds were released under salaries, overhead, capital, or any form of intervention or special allocation to the council,” he told the committee.

He further disclosed that the council had requested an establishment grant of ₦27.4 billion, but the application was rejected because there was no budgetary provision to support it.

The Accountant-General also explained that although the Central Bank of Nigeria opened two domiciliary accounts for the organisation to receive inflows, the accounts never became operational because the group failed to meet the regulatory conditions required for activation.

Forged State House Letter Exposed

One of the most significant moments of the hearing came when Ogunjimi told lawmakers that the correspondence received by his office did not originate from the Presidency.

“The letter that was received by the Treasury was respectfully addressed as coming from the State House. That letter was never issued by the State House,” he said.

His testimony led committee members to conclude that a forged State House document had allegedly been used to mislead government institutions into processing official requests for an agency that had no legal basis.

Lawmakers also questioned how civil servants initially posted to the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President eventually became attached to the purported council without the knowledge of the Office of the Accountant-General.

Questions Over Staff Deployment

Responding, Ogunjimi explained that two officers deployed to the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser in 2010 and 2013 remained there after the office was allegedly taken over by the new council. However, he said no formal communication was sent to notify the Treasury of any organisational change.

“It was never assumed or written to us that those two officers were being taken over. The staff also never reported to the office to say that another council had taken over the office and the name had changed. As far as I was concerned, we were dealing with a new agency, not the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser,” he said.

He added that when the purported council later requested the deployment of five additional officers, only three were approved after officials concluded that the organisation’s structure did not justify the number requested.

“It was when all this matter came to light that I got to know that two of our staff were actually working or being absorbed by the agency. We never knew. We believed, based on the records available to us, that those officers were still with the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser,” Ogunjimi stated.

Investigation Continues

The House investigation centres on allegations that forged presidential approvals, counterfeit State House correspondence, fake Acts of the National Assembly and other falsified government documents were used to establish and operate the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

The committee has already received evidence from the Nigeria Police Force confirming that criminal charges involving conspiracy and fraud have been filed against the prime suspect, Adeyemi Adeniyi, at the Federal High Court.

At Monday’s hearing, lawmakers also directed the Inspector-General of Police to produce Adeyemi before the committee by noon on Wednesday to answer questions relating to the alleged forgery of official government documents and the operations of the controversial agency. The committee is expected to conclude its investigation with recommendations on possible administrative, legislative and criminal actions against anyone found culpable.