The ministry of foreign affairs says it neither granted any request from the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) nor had any official dealings with the council.
Umar Ahmed, permanent secretary of the ministry of foreign
affairs, spoke on Tuesday when he appeared before the house of representatives
ad hoc committee investigating the PFIPC imbroglio and the N1.3 billion
allocated to the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The PFIPC held a pre-world investment summit dinner and
press conference in 2025 and April 2026, respectively.
Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu,
is at the centre of the PFIPC controversy.
Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man accused of operating the agency,
claimed the chief of staff issued his appointment letter — an allegation
Gbajabiamila has denied.
The presidency said the appointment letter bearing
Gbajabiamila’s signature was forged, while the chief of staff had earlier
petitioned security agencies over the matter.
Adeyemi was arrested on July 14 by operatives of the police
intelligence response team (IRT) in Osun state.
On Monday, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission (ICPC) interrogated Gbajabiamila over his alleged
role in the PFIPC fiasco.
‘WE HAD NO DEALING WITH PFIPC’
Ahmed, who represented Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, minister of
foreign affairs, told the lawmakers that Adeyemi, who presented himself as the
director-general of the PFIPC, approached the ministry on three occasions
seeking its collaboration and endorsement to host a world investment summit in
Nigeria.
Ahmed informed legislators that the foreign affairs ministry
received the requests on June 26, 2025, August 5, 2025, and June 5, 2026, but
declined to act on them after carrying out preliminary checks.
“Guided by extant rules and regulations as well as the
necessity of carrying out due diligence before obliging any request, the
ministry, however, did not take any action on the requests,” he said.
“The ministry’s refusal to oblige the requests was further
necessitated by some of the discrepancies observed in the letters submitted by
Prince Adeyemi and the ongoing investigation on the legitimacy of the PFIPC and
the personality of its alleged director-general.”
Ahmed said the ministry wrote to the office of the national
security adviser (ONSA) on October 16, 2025, seeking clarification on Adeyemi
and PFIPC’s status.
The permanent secretary said the ONSA responded on November
26, 2025, informing the ministry that enquiries made with the office of the
secretary to the government of the federation (OSGF) and the office of the
chief of staff to the president indicated that Adeyemi was unknown to any
office of the federal government.
“I wish to clearly state the following: the ministry did not
participate in any diplomatic engagement, bilateral and multilateral
discussions held by the PFIPC,” Ahmed said.
“The PFIPC did not facilitate or receive any foreign
investors, partners, and delegations through the ministry. According to the
available records in the ministry, there is no document, memorandum of
understanding, or agreement signed with foreign governments by the council.
“The ministry did not play any role with the council in
promoting Nigeria’s investment abroad. No Nigerian mission had interaction with
the PFIPC, since they did not receive any directive from the ministry in that
regard, in line with the ministry’s extant procedures and line of
communication.”
Ahmed added that the ministry has never had any official
interaction or engagement with the PFIPC or its alleged director-general.
On Monday, Esther Walson-Jack, head of the civil service of
the federation (HoS), said office space used by the PFIPC at the federal
secretariat in Abuja was allocated to the office of the secretary to the
government of the federation.
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