The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) says several senior government officials were listed as members of the council’s governing board.
Yusuf Gagdi, chairman of the committee, made the remarks
during the panel’s investigative hearing on Thursday when lawmakers grilled
Shehu Mohammed, chief executive officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps
(FRSC), for approving seven vehicle number plates for the PFIPC despite
apparent irregularities in the council’s application documents.
Gagdi said those listed as members of the PFIPC’s governing
board included President Bola Tinubu; George Akume, secretary to the government
of the federation; Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT); head of the civil service of the federation; governor of the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN); attorney-general of the federation; and ministers of
finance, aviation, agriculture and food security, interior, budget and national
planning, marine and blue economy, police affairs, transport, works, and power.
Gagdi said the FRSC failed to question a document that
allegedly named Tinubu and cabinet members as board members.
He also noted that the purported mandate submitted by the
organisation to the FRSC lacked official government security features, yet was
accepted as part of the verification process.
“We are trying to expose the leakages so that agencies can
close these gaps going forward. It is not to indict anybody,” Gagdi said.
Gagdi said the board’s unusual composition and the nature of the documents should have prompted the FRSC to seek independent verification from the presidency and other relevant government institutions before granting the PFIPC’s request.
FRSC DEFENDS VERIFICATION PROCESS
Mohammed told the committee that the FRSC complied with its
standard operating procedures throughout the application process.
The Corps Marshal explained that the FRSC received the
council’s application on April 4, 2025, followed by a reminder dated April 11,
both signed by Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi.
He said the application was accompanied by documents
purporting to establish the council, detailing its mandate, governing structure
and the vehicles for which official number plates were requested.
Mohammed said officials also examined the organisation’s
website, which bore a federal government domain, and visited the council’s
office at the federal secretariat complex in Abuja.
The corps marshal said both the website and the physical
office gave the impression that the council was a legitimate government agency.
Mohammed added that officials also verified the vehicles’
chassis numbers before approving the allocation of the number plates.
He said the FRSC was surprised when it later emerged that
the PFIPC was not an authorised federal government agency.
Mohammed added that the FRSC has commenced the retrieval of
all official number plates issued to the organisation and has strengthened its
verification procedures to prevent a recurrence.
Meanwhile, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has recommended the prosecution of Adeyemi,
the man accused of operating PFIPC.
Adeyemi claimed that Femi Gbajabiamila, Tinubu’s chief of
staff, issued his appointment letter — an allegation the former Speaker of the
House of Representatives denied.
The commission cleared the presidency and the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN) of any wrongdoing but blamed institutional lapses in several
ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), including office of the secretary
to the government of the federation, the office of the head of the civil
service of the federation, office of the accountant-general of the federation,
budget office and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA),
among others.
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