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The House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee investigating Nigeria’s Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council ordered the Inspector-General of Police Monday to produce the agency’s alleged promoter, Adeniyi Adeyemi, for questioning Wednesday, even as pressure mounted on the committee to widen its probe by summoning Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila.
Adeyemi, who has been in police custody for more than two weeks, is expected to appear before lawmakers following the committee’s directive to Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu. Committee Chairman Yusuf Gagdi, a Plateau lawmaker, said the appearance had become non-negotiable given the scale of the allegations. “This committee clearly needs the suspected DG to appear before this committee. People’s names are involved. People’s integrity are involved. Institutional names are involved. Institutional integrity are involved,” Gagdi said, adding that Adeyemi would be required to confirm certain documents without undermining the ongoing investigation.
The committee’s hearings so far have featured testimony from Head of the Civil Service of the Federation Didi Walson-Jack, Budget Office Director-General Tanimu Yakubu, Central Bank Director of Banking Services Hamisu Abdullahi, Accountant-General of the Federation Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Bashir Abdullahi, who represented the Inspector-General.
Representing police at Monday’s hearing, ACP Abdullahi told lawmakers criminal proceedings had already begun against Adeyemi. “The Nigerian Police Force investigated part of this case late last year and filed eight-count charges before a Federal High Court. The case is ongoing,” he said, cautioning the committee against pressing for details that could prejudice the case or subsequent judicial proceedings.
Police confirmed during the hearing that they had received petitions from the Office of the Chief of Staff alleging Adeyemi fraudulently presented himself as Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council. Investigators said Adeyemi used the purported office to secure accommodation within the Federal Secretariat, sought approval to recruit roughly 300 personnel, attempted to obtain a 1.32 billion naira budgetary allocation for the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act, and planned to organize a World Investment Summit under the non-existent agency’s banner.
A comparison of signatures on disputed State House documents against authentic official correspondence formed one of the hearing’s pivotal moments. Asked whether the signatures matched, ACP Abdullahi replied plainly: “They are not the same.” Gagdi said the committee has identified roughly 29 allegedly forged documents, including fake presidential approvals, counterfeit Acts of the National Assembly, and forged correspondence purportedly issued by the State House, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Ministry of Finance, and other agencies.
Accountant-General Ogunjimi disclosed that his office unknowingly processed requests from the purported council after receiving what appeared to be an authentic State House letter dated November 7, 2024, requesting creation of an administrative code for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. The Treasury created the code and notified the State House, copying the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation. Further requests followed, including applications for self-accounting status, personnel deployment, and the opening of Treasury Single Account and domiciliary accounts. Ogunjimi said no public funds were ultimately released to the council, and a separate request for a 27.4 billion naira establishment grant was rejected for lack of budgetary provision. Investigators later determined the original State House letter was forged. “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,” Ogunjimi told lawmakers.
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Despite the scope of testimony gathered, Gbajabiamila has not been invited to testify, a gap that has drawn criticism from multiple quarters. A source close to the committee’s proceedings said that lawmakers failed to press ACP Abdullahi on unresolved threads, including the death of an alleged middleman, Dolapo Tanimola, who Adeyemi reportedly said received 400 million naira meant for the Chief of Staff. Tanimola died in a fire at Kachi Hotel in Utako, Abuja, on October 22, 2025, and the hotel was reportedly demolished by armed individuals days later, before further investigation could occur. The source questioned why the committee did not ask who authorized that demolition.
Political analyst Jackson Ojo faulted the committee’s sequencing, arguing Gbajabiamila should have been among the first witnesses called. “For not inviting him, they have already given the impression that they are not interested in finding out what truly happened,” Ojo said.
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The Human and Environmental Development Agenda called on Gbajabiamila to step aside pending the investigation’s conclusion. HEDA Chairman Suraju Olanrewaju said that while Adeyemi has not produced concrete evidence of direct contact with the Chief of Staff, the office’s failure to safeguard the presidency from the scheme justifies leadership changes regardless. He also urged the committee to summon Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume to account for his office’s due diligence before the council gained administrative traction, calling that office “even more complicit in the PFIPC controversy.”
Gagdi said the committee has deliberately avoided pressing police on matters that could compromise the criminal case, and the panel is expected to resume Wednesday with Adeyemi’s appearance, after which lawmakers plan to recommend administrative, legislative, and possible criminal action against those found culpable.
