PFIPC: I’ll hand over documents to DSS, Police — Adeyemi

The Director-General of the disputed Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi, says he is ready to hand over documents to the Department of State Services, DSS, and the police to help investigators establish how the council secured N1.3 billion in the 2026 budget.

Adeyemi’s offer follows President Bola Tinubu’s 30-day ultimatum to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to investigate the council, which the Presidency has dismissed as fake.

The National Assembly is split on how to handle the matter. The House of Representatives has set up an ad hoc committee to probe how the agency got N1.3 billion allocated under budget code 0111062001, while the Senate has rejected a parallel inquiry, choosing instead to wait for the ICPC’s report.

In an interview with online personality VeryDarkMan, Adeyemi said he would soon submit documents to security agencies for verification. He denied inserting the budget line himself, saying he was in detention for 23 days while the budget was being prepared and did not defend it before lawmakers.

On his earlier claims against Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Adeyemi was non-committal, saying only that a probe panel should be set up to establish the facts. He also repeated that he was attacked by gunmen near Zuma Rock in September 2025, and insisted his aim was to attract foreign investment to Nigeria.

Lawmakers in the House raised alarm that a non-existent council operated from the Federal Secretariat in Abuja for nearly a year, engaged foreign missions, and got N1,302,978,000 approved. Yusuf Gagdi, who moved the motion, said the group relied on a fake law it claimed was Chapter N2117, which does not exist.

The House gave its committee four weeks to summon the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and the Budget Office DG, and asked the Accountant-General to freeze any funds tied to the agency. It also directed that all MDAs be verified against their legal instruments going forward.

Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu admitted his office was misled by the group’s use of official letterheads, including a May 2, 2025 letter bearing the logos of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and PFIPC.

Senator Kawu Sumaila tried to get the Senate to launch its own probe, citing a N1.3 billion allocation broken down into personnel, overhead and capital costs. Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin blocked the move, saying the chamber should wait for the ICPC’s report before acting.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar dismissed the ICPC investigation as an internal cover-up, demanding an independent inquiry involving the Nigerian Bar Association, opposition parties, civil society and retired judges. He argued the Presidency cannot investigate itself in a scandal implicating its own officials.

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, backed Atiku’s position, with spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi accusing the Presidency of prejudging the outcome by calling Adeyemi’s documents forgeries before any forensic review. The party also condemned the reported arrest of Adeyemi’s father as intimidation.