…Says Appointment Letter, Gazette, Other Documents Forged
…Uncovers Two More Alleged Fake Entities
Ayomide Awe
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has recommended the prosecution of the alleged Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, Adeniyi Adeyemi, after an interim investigation found that he was never appointed by the Federal Government and allegedly relied on forged documents to operate the disputed agency.
PLATFORM TIMES reports that the recommendation followed a 30-day investigation ordered by President Bola Tinubu into the activities of the PFIPC, an agency the Presidency had earlier disowned.
The Chairman of the ICPC, Musa Aliyu, disclosed the commission’s findings on Thursday after presenting the interim report to President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Aliyu said investigators established that the appointment letter, gazette and other documents used by Adeyemi to legitimise the PFIPC were forged.
He added that the investigation also exposed major lapses in verification and oversight procedures across government institutions, which allegedly enabled the fake agency to operate without early detection.
“Our interim report found weaknesses in verification, inter-agency oversight and government processes. We discovered that those weaknesses were exploited by Adeniyi, with some level of negligence,” Aliyu said.
The ICPC boss, however, clarified that no Federal Government funds were approved or released to the disputed PFIPC or its associated Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
“Our investigation found that no Federal Government funds were approved or disbursed to the fake PFIPC/PEAC,” he stated.
According to him, the investigation also uncovered two additional entities allegedly created by Adeyemi—the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public Private Partnership—which investigators believe were also established using forged legislative instruments.
Aliyu alleged that Adeyemi used the fake enabling documents to facilitate the opening of bank accounts for the organisations.
The anti-graft agency recommended that Adeyemi be prosecuted for his alleged role in the scheme and also called for administrative sanctions against public officials whose negligence allegedly aided the illegal operation of the disputed agency.
It further urged the Federal Government to strengthen internal control mechanisms across Ministries, Departments and Agencies to prevent similar incidents.
“Our recommendation is that Mr Adeniyi Adeyemi should be prosecuted. Administrative sanctions should also be imposed on public officers whose acts of omission and negligence facilitated the illegal operation of PFIPC/PEAC,” Aliyu said.
He noted that the report submitted to the President was only an interim report, adding that investigations were continuing to identify other collaborators and gather additional evidence capable of sustaining criminal charges in court.
The PFIPC controversy gained national attention after the Presidency declared that the council was not a recognised Federal Government agency despite its inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation of ₦1.3 billion.
The Federal Government has since filed criminal charges against Adeyemi over allegations bordering on forgery, impersonation and fraudulent misrepresentation, while separate investigations by the House of Representatives and the ICPC continue into how the disputed agency allegedly operated within government institutions.
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