Gbenga Collins, managing director of Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, says he gave Adeniyi Adeyemi N400 million to facilitate the award of a contract to renovate and furnish an apartment he claimed was his official residence.
Collins spoke on Tuesday when he appeared before the house
of representatives ad hoc committee probing the controversy surrounding the
Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and the N1.3
billion allocated to the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Collins said he believed the council was a legitimate
federal government agency because Adeyemi operated from an office at the
federal secretariat in Abuja, used official vehicles with government number
plates, and was surrounded by security personnel.
He said he first met Adeyemi in December 2024 when he
introduced himself as the director-general of the PFIPC and the Presidential
Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).
Collins told lawmakers that Adeyemi later informed him about
plans to renovate his official residence and invited his company to execute the
project.
The businessman said Adeyemi personally took him to inspect
the property, accompanied by staff and security personnel.
He added that in April 2025, Adeyemi presented him with a
contract award letter, scope of work and an agreement for the refurbishment
project.
Collins said Adeyemi later demanded N400 million as proof of
his company’s financial capacity and to facilitate mobilisation for the
contract.
“I had to pay N400 million for the facilitation of that
project to show my strength that I would be able to handle the project,” he
said.
Collins said he raised the money from business associates
who trusted him because he had personally visited Adeyemi’s office and believed
he was dealing with a genuine government agency.
He claimed that the money was paid in five instalments
between May and July 2025 into accounts belonging to World Entrepreneurs
Limited and Sunshine Confectionery and Catering Services.
The businessman said the promised mobilisation never came,
despite repeated assurances that payment would commence in August and later
November 2025.
“My lawyer was the first person who told me that I had been
scammed,” Collins said, adding that a petition was subsequently filed with the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
While admitting that he did not follow the public
procurement law, Collins denied paying the money as a bribe, insisting he
believed it was a condition for facilitating the contract.
He appealed to the committee to recover the funds from
Adeyemi.
BACKGROUND
At the centre of the PFIPC scandal is Femi Gbajabiamila,
chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu.
Adeyemi, the man accused of operating the agency, claimed
the chief of staff issued his appointment letter — an allegation Gbajabiamila
denied.
Adeyemi also said he borrowed N400 million to secure the
PFIPC DG appointment and that his lenders have reported him to the EFCC.
Adeyemi was arrested on July 14 by operatives of the police
intelligence response team (IRT) in Osun state, days after Gbajabiamila sued
him for N15 billion over alleged defamation.
Some heads of government agencies had said Adeyemi submitted
forged documents that led to budgetary allocations for the FCIPC.
On July 27, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, accountant-general of the
federation, told the committee that Adeyemi hijacked a letter sent to the State
House that could have revealed that documents used by the PFIPC were forged.
On July 29, Esther Walson-Jack, head of the civil service of
the federation (HoS), said there was no due diligence in the verification of
documents presented by the PFIPC before approval was granted for its staffing
structure and recruitment waiver.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com