REPS PROBE UNCOVERS 58 BANK ACCOUNTS, 12 ENTITIES LINKED TO ALLEGED PFIPC CHIEF

The House of Representatives committee investigating the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council has uncovered 58 bank accounts and more than 12 entities allegedly linked to Adeniyi Adeyemi, who was presented as the Director-General of the purported organisation.

The findings were contained in the preliminary report of the House Ad Hoc Committee investigating the activities and alleged inclusion of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, in the Federal Government’s budget framework. Committee Chairman, Yusuf Gagdi, disclosed the findings while presenting the panel’s preliminary conclusions in Abuja.

According to the committee, the 58 accounts were connected to Adeyemi through his Bank Verification Number and other identifying information obtained from financial and investigative institutions. The accounts were reportedly spread across personal, corporate, organisational and foundation names, with more than 30 of them appearing to have been operated in the names of about nine agencies, companies, foundations or related organisations.

The lawmakers said their investigation also uncovered a wider network of entities allegedly associated with Adeyemi. Among the names identified were the Confederation of United Nations Youths, FCT Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership, FCT Investment Promotion Council and Public-Private Partnership, Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, United Nations Youth Global Agency, United Nations Youth Global Foundation, World Entrepreneurship University Limited, World Enterprise University Limited, FCT Investment Promotion Act, FCT Promotion Agency and Olubadan of Ibadan Foundation.

The committee further disclosed an allegation involving a company that reportedly paid about ₦400 million in four instalments after Adeyemi allegedly represented that the company could secure a contract connected to the renovation, furnishing or improvement of a residential property purportedly allocated to him as an official residence.

The company allegedly told the committee that its representatives were taken to a property in Abuja and informed that the residence was connected to Adeyemi’s purported official position. The panel’s findings form part of an ongoing investigation into how the alleged organisation operated and how individuals and entities associated with it may have presented themselves as legitimate government institutions.

However, committee chairman Gagdi cautioned that the discovery of the bank accounts and the identification of entities did not, by themselves, establish criminality. The information is being examined alongside other documentary and financial evidence as the investigation continues.

The House panel also examined documents allegedly used to give the purported council the appearance of a legitimate Federal Government institution. Its preliminary findings indicated that several documents contained evidence of alleged fabrication, forgery, mutilation or impersonation.

One of the documents under scrutiny was an alleged presidential appointment letter purportedly appointing Adeyemi as Director-General and attributed to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. The committee previously said there was no evidence that Gbajabiamila authorised, approved or established the organisation, while evidence from the State House indicated that he neither issued nor signed the alleged appointment letter.

The committee also found that there was no valid Act of the National Assembly establishing the purported PFIPC. The document presented as legislation establishing the organisation was reportedly not enacted by Parliament, passed by both chambers, assented to by the President or gazetted.

The preliminary findings have therefore raised questions about how the purported organisation was able to present itself as a government body and gain access to official-looking documents, offices and other institutional resources. The committee is expected to continue examining the financial records, documents and individuals connected to the matter before submitting its final report.

The investigation remains ongoing, and the preliminary findings should not be interpreted as a final determination of criminal guilt against Adeyemi or any other individual. Any allegations arising from the probe remain subject to further investigation and due process.