The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has named four federal civil servants allegedly involved in helping Adeniyi Adeyemi, promoter of the now-disowned Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, secure government approvals and penetrate official financial and administrative systems.
The officials identified in the commission’s interim investigation report are Rose Achem, Senior Administrative Officer to the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation; Patricia Akhigbe, an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning; Mimi Abu, Director of Organisation Design and Development at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; and Aminu Abdullahi, an official responsible for office allocation within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The ICPC said the alleged assistance went beyond processing paperwork, enabling the purported agency to obtain self-accounting status, an administrative code, access to government financial systems and office accommodation at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
The development followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive for an investigation after the Presidency disowned the PFIPC and Adeyemi, insisting that neither had received official recognition under the administration.
According to the ICPC report, Adeyemi began seeking formal recognition for the organisation in November 2024 when he approached the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for an administrative code, self-accounting status and approval to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He allegedly backed the requests with documents purporting to establish the council and authenticate his appointment.
Investigators, however, found that one of the persons named as having signed a key document, Akanbi Adewale, did not exist.
Forensic examination also allegedly showed that the letter attributed to Adewale was actually signed by Adeyemi.
Despite the discrepancies, the documents were processed within government structures.
On May 27, 2025, the OAGF granted the organisation self-accounting status and assigned it administrative code 0111062001.
The office also created a Government Integrated Financial Management Information System platform and a Sub-Treasury Account for the purported council.
The OAGF further issued a mandate to the CBN to create two domiciliary accounts for the organisation.
The CBN later told the House of Representatives that the accounts were never activated because the organisation failed to provide authorised signatories.
The ICPC said Achem, Akhigbe and Abu played key roles in securing an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver for the purported PFIPC.
According to the report, Achem introduced Akhigbe to Abu as the head of human resources of the PFIPC, although Akhigbe was an assistant director in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
The commission said the introduction was made to facilitate the organisation’s application for an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver.
Investigators subsequently found that the three officials facilitated the approvals through the OHCSF.
The commission also alleged that Adeyemi paid Akhigbe N500,000 during Easter in 2025, describing the payment as a “thank you for your support.”
The ICPC said the authorised establishment was granted on the same day the three officials met.
More troubling, according to the commission, was the absence of evidence that the PFIPC had formally applied for an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver.
Instead, the approvals were allegedly processed outside the prescribed procedure.
When investigators requested the relevant file from the OHCSF, the office reportedly said it was missing.
Forged papers allegedly passed through civil service
The ICPC said Abu’s role came under scrutiny because her department is responsible for authorised establishment, manpower requirements and recruitment waivers for federal government organisations.
Investigators said Achem and Akhigbe met Abu on behalf of the PFIPC and presented what the commission described as forged establishment instruments and a forged appointment letter for Adeyemi.
Abu reportedly described the controversial appointment letter, purportedly issued by the Chief of Staff to the President, as an “aberration.”
She also told investigators she could not recall another government organisation presenting an appointment letter signed by the Chief of Staff.
When the PFIPC could not upload the required documents through the OHCSF portal, its representatives allegedly submitted physical copies of the appointment letter and purported enabling instruments.
The ICPC further found that although the PFIPC requested the deployment of staff in a May 9, 2025 letter, the OHCSF neither approved nor effected any deployment.
Evidence from the Enterprise Content Management System, according to the commission, showed that no officers were deployed to the organisation.
The investigation also exposed how the purported agency allegedly secured office space at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
The ICPC examined the role of Abdullahi, an official responsible for coordinating office allocation to political appointees within the OSGF.
Investigators said Abdullahi was introduced to Adeyemi in March 2025 by Ibrahim Abdulkadir, a deputy director in the General Services Department.
The introduction was allegedly intended to assist Adeyemi in securing office accommodation after an earlier request to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had failed to produce the desired result.
The ICPC found that Abdullahi allocated offices previously occupied by former Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Doyin Salami, at the Federal Secretariat Phase III for temporary use by the PFIPC without written approval.
The commission said only two keys were available for the offices and that Abdullahi broke the locks on the remaining doors to give Adeyemi access.
A financial analysis of Abdullahi’s bank statement allegedly showed that he received N3.25m from Adeyemi in three tranches between March and November 2025.
The payments, according to the ICPC, formed part of the evidence considered in assessing Abdullahi’s role.
The purported PFIPC’s penetration of government structures was not limited to offices and administrative approvals.
The organisation was reportedly listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a N1.3bn allocation, despite the Presidency’s subsequent denial that the agency was officially recognised.
The development raised questions over how an organisation allegedly lacking a legal basis for existence obtained the administrative status required to appear within federal government financial structures.
Adeyemi has denied wrongdoing and maintained that his appointment was legitimate.
He is currently facing an eight-count charge bordering on forgery, impersonation and related offences.
The PFIPC investigation also led the ICPC to uncover another suspected fake agency, the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, allegedly operating within the OSGF.
President Tinubu subsequently ordered the suspension of three permanent secretaries and the arrest of the alleged promoter of the organisation, George Buchi Nwabueze.
ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, said investigators found that Nwabueze operated under several variations of his name and that suspected collaborators existed within the OSGF.
The commission said forged legislative instruments were allegedly used to create an appearance of legitimacy for the entities and facilitate the opening of bank accounts in their names.
The discovery has widened the scandal and triggered fresh concerns over the effectiveness of verification mechanisms within Nigeria’s federal civil service.
Beyond the individual allegations, the commission identified systemic weaknesses that allegedly allowed the purported PFIPC to move through government institutions without adequate scrutiny.
The ICPC said the OHCSF’s standard operating procedures did not adequately require newly established federal institutions to submit relevant establishment documents.
It also identified insufficient mechanisms for authenticating and verifying documents submitted by such organisations.
The commission said the self-accounting status granted by the OAGF was particularly significant because it enabled the purported agency to operate within government financial reporting structures and use the status in dealings with other government institutions.
The ICPC recommended administrative action against Achem, Akhigbe, Abu and Abdullahi over their alleged roles in the affair.
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