By Franklin Adole
The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) has cleared Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, of involvement in the controversial organisation, even as it uncovered about 58 bank accounts allegedly linked to its detained Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, and began tracing an alleged N400 million transaction.
The committee said its preliminary investigation established that the PFIPC was never lawfully created and that documents presented to give it the appearance of a legitimate Federal Government institution, including a purported presidential appointment letter, Executive Order, and Act of the National Assembly, showed evidence of alleged fabrication and forgery.
Chairman of the committee, Yusuf Gagdi, disclosed the findings on Wednesday while presenting the panel’s preliminary report to parliamentary correspondents in Abuja on how the purported council found its way into the Federal Budget Framework despite having no lawful instrument establishing it.
According to Gagdi, preliminary information obtained from financial and investigative institutions indicated that the Bank Verification Number and other identifying details associated with Adeyemi were linked to a network of personal, corporate, organisational, and foundation bank accounts.
About 58 accounts were identified, with more than 30 appearing to have been operated in the names of about nine agencies, companies, foundations, or related entities connected to Adeyemi.
The entities identified in the investigation include 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 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.
Gagdi cautioned that the discovery of the accounts and entities did not, by itself, establish illegality or criminal liability.
He said investigators were still reconciling registration records, account mandates, beneficial ownership information, signatories, and transaction histories to determine the ownership, control, and purposes of the organisations and accounts.
The committee, however, said it had observed similarities in the nomenclature, objectives, management structures, signatories, and banking relationships of several of the entities.
According to Gagdi, this raised questions about whether some organisations were created or deployed to manufacture credibility, solicit funds, secure official recognition, or induce members of the public to part with money.
The committee is particularly investigating an alleged N400 million transaction involving a company which claimed that Adeyemi induced it to make payments in four instalments after allegedly representing that he could secure a contract for the renovation, furnishing, or improvement of a purported official residence allocated to him as PFIPC Director-General.
Gagdi said investigators were tracing where the money went, the holders and beneficial owners of the receiving accounts, and whether any public official or private individual participated in, facilitated, or benefited from the transaction.
He said that if the allegations were established through competent investigative and judicial processes, they could disclose offences including fraudulent misrepresentation, obtaining money by false pretence, impersonation, conspiracy, forgery, and concealment or movement of proceeds of crime.
Beyond the financial transactions, the committee said its investigation had established that the PFIPC itself had no lawful foundation.
According to Gagdi, investigators could find no Act of the National Assembly, gazetted enactment, Presidential Executive Order, or other lawful instrument establishing the council.
Instead, the panel said documents used to project the PFIPC as a government institution contained substantial evidence of alleged fabrication, forgery, mutilation, impersonation, and unauthorised representation of Nigerian institutions and public officers.
Among the documents under scrutiny are a purported presidential appointment letter naming Adeyemi as Director-General, an alleged Executive Order, and a document presented as an Act of the National Assembly establishing the organisation.
The committee said evidence obtained from the State House established that the purported appointment letter was neither issued nor signed by Gbajabiamila.
It said the letterhead and reference number on the document were also inconsistent with official State House correspondence.
Consequently, the committee cleared the Chief of Staff of allegations that he authorised, approved, established, or participated in the activities of the PFIPC.
“The documentary evidence presently before the Committee does not establish that the Chief of Staff authorised, approved, established, or participated in the activities of the purported organisation,” Gagdi said.
Rather, the committee said evidence showed that Gbajabiamila acted after receiving alerts about the organisation, communicating with the Nigeria Police Force, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Department of State Services (DSS), and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The panel similarly cleared the National Assembly committees responsible for scrutinising the budget of culpability, but said the investigation had now raised a more fundamental question: how an entity without lawful existence secured apparent official recognition and budgetary treatment within the Federal Government machinery.
Gagdi said the episode exposed weaknesses in procedures for verifying government institutions, creating administrative and budget codes, authenticating official correspondence, allocating government accommodation, and processing official-looking vehicle number plates.
The PFIPC allegedly reinforced its appearance of legitimacy by occupying office accommodation within the Federal Secretariat Complex and operating a website that portrayed it as an agency of the Federal Government.
It was also alleged to have used the names, offices, and photographs of President Bola Tinubu and other senior government officials without authorisation.
The committee said about 39 people were represented as employees of the organisation and that it was investigating their recruitment, appointment letters, identity cards, and remuneration, as well as allegations that some prospective employees were required to make payments before securing employment.
Pending the conclusion of investigations, the panel recommended that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies stop recognising, dealing with or extending government privileges to the PFIPC or related entities whose legal status had not been independently established.
It also recommended that no appropriation, administrative code, warrant, cash backing, financial release or government facility should be processed in favour of the purported council.
Financial institutions and investigative agencies were asked to preserve account records, transaction histories, mandates and beneficial ownership information relating to persons and entities under investigation.
The committee also called for the prompt conclusion of criminal and financial investigations and prosecution wherever investigators establish sufficient admissible evidence.
It recommended the tracing, preservation, freezing and recovery of proceeds or assets shown to have resulted from unlawful activity, subject to due process and judicial authorisation where required.
The panel commended the Police, DSS, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and ONSA for assisting in tracing the allegedly fabricated documents, associated entities, financial accounts and transactions.
To prevent a recurrence, it proposed stronger authentication procedures for establishing new government institutions, generating administrative and budget codes and verifying correspondence purportedly emanating from the Presidency and other senior government offices.
It also proposed a secure centralised digital verification platform through which the legal existence, establishing instrument and status of every Federal Government institution could be independently authenticated.
Gagdi stressed that the committee’s findings remained preliminary and did not constitute a determination of criminal guilt, which could only be made by a court of competent jurisdiction.
He said investigations would continue into the ownership and control of the bank accounts, the alleged N400 million transaction, the purported official residence, special number plates, government accommodation and the roles of public officers and private individuals connected with the matter.
Affected persons would also be given an opportunity to respond before the committee reached definitive conclusions.
The final report, Gagdi said, would be submitted when the House reconvenes from its two-month annual recess, after which lawmakers would consider and decide whether to adopt, amend or reject its findings and recommendations.
“The Presidency cannot be impersonated with impunity,” Gagdi declared, saying the investigation was ultimately intended to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s institutions and prevent private individuals or organisations from manufacturing government authority for personal advantage.
Discover more from Keeping Them Honest
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.