Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, says he was a victim of the alleged activities of the purported presidential foreign intervention promotion council (PFIPC).
Kalu spoke on Wednesday during plenary while contributing to
a motion seeking a probe of the purported council, which the presidency has
disowned.
The motion comes after President Bola Tinubu directed the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to
investigate the activities of the PFIPC after reports emerged that it had
presented itself as a federal government agency.
Speaking in support of the motion, Kalu recounted how his
office granted officials of the purported agency access after receiving what
appeared to be an official letter from the presidency.
“I was a victim of this crime,” he said.
“And I’m sure if you watched the news, you saw my picture
all over the screen. My picture was made the trend, standing side by side with
the purported DG of this organisation.”
Kalu said his office received a letter dated May 2, 2025,
bearing the presidency’s logo and the names of the disputed council.
He said the letter listed an office address at the federal
secretariat complex in Abuja and carried the domain name “pfipc.gov.ng”.
He said the documents appeared credible, prompting his
office to verify the address before approving a meeting with the delegation.
“When I saw this, it was a bit confusing for me. Some of the
information looked credible, some did not,” he said.
“I sent my team to verify the existence of this organisation
at the stated address. They came back confirming that the organisation was
there. I then approved the meeting.”
According to the deputy speaker, the group had requested
discussions on constitutional amendment, economic governance, legislative
priorities and collaboration to attract foreign investment.
However, he said the meeting took an unexpected turn as the
visitors focused on taking photographs instead of discussing the issues
outlined in their letter.
“When they came, they did not talk about the constitution
amendment or the issues they listed in the letter. They were more about photo
taking,” he said.
“I looked at the quality of the men before me and questioned
whether they were truly engaged by the president.”
Kalu said the incident showed that official-looking
documents and government office addresses could no longer be taken as proof of
legitimacy.
He urged the house to investigate how the purported organisation gained access to government facilities, interacted with public officials and allegedly secured a place in the federal budget.
“This goes to show that a beautiful letterhead carrying the
presidency is no longer confirmation that an agency is legal,” he said.
“It goes to show that an address at the Federal Secretariat
does not mean that a particular agency is legal.
“It is our duty to dig deeper into this matter. I encourage
members to support this motion so Nigerians will see that we stand for
transparency and accountability in governance.”
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