Nigeria’s House of Representatives has uncovered 29 documents suspected to have been forged in an investigation into the alleged operations of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), an entity lawmakers say has no legal existence.

The House Ad Hoc Committee investigating the controversial agency has also issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, directing him to produce the self-acclaimed Director-General, Adeyemi Adeniyi, before the panel to answer allegations of fraud, impersonation and document forgery.

Committee Says Probe Reveals Widespread Forgery

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau State), disclosed the findings during the panel’s resumed investigative hearing on Monday, describing the alleged fraud as far more extensive than initially suspected.

According to Gagdi, investigators have identified 29 documents believed to have been forged, including purported official approvals and correspondence attributed to several federal institutions.

Among the documents under scrutiny are alleged approvals from:

• The State House
• The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)
• The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation
• The Federal Ministry of Finance
• Other federal government agencies

“So, it is not only a letter that was suspected to be forged,” Gagdi said.

“We are dealing with documents that include what is said to be a forged Act of the National Assembly in an attempt to establish a fake agency.”

He said representatives of several government institutions had appeared before the committee and formally disowned the documents attributed to their offices.

Reps Order Police to Produce Suspected DG

Following the revelations, the committee directed its Clerk, Baba Kaigama, to formally notify the Inspector-General of Police to ensure Adeniyi appears before lawmakers by 12 noon on Wednesday.

Gagdi said hearing directly from the suspect had become necessary because of the number of government institutions and public officials whose names had been linked to the alleged fraud.

“This committee clearly needs the suspected DG to appear before us,” he said.

“People’s names, institutional reputations and government integrity are involved. It is no longer optional.”

The committee chairman added that lawmakers were taking care not to interfere with ongoing police investigations or judicial proceedings while conducting the parliamentary inquiry.

Police Confirm Criminal Charges Already Filed

Representing the Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police Bashir Abdullahi told lawmakers that the Nigeria Police Force had already completed part of its investigation and filed an eight-count criminal charge against Adeniyi before the Federal High Court.

“The Nigerian Police Force investigated part of this case late last year and filed eight charges before a Federal High Court. The matter is currently before the court,” Abdullahi said.

He confirmed that the suspect had been arrested and arraigned but declined to disclose further details, warning that doing so could prejudice ongoing investigations and court proceedings.

According to the police, the investigation began after receiving a petition dated October 17, 2025, from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.

The petition alleged that Adeniyi falsely presented himself as Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

Alleged Attempts to Secure Budget Allocation and Recruit Staff

Police told lawmakers that the suspect allegedly used the purported office to:

• Obtain office accommodation within the Federal Secretariat;
• Seek approval to recruit about 300 personnel;
• Attempt to secure a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act; and
• Plan an international World Investment Summit under the name of the non-existent agency.

During the hearing, lawmakers compared signatures appearing on documents allegedly issued from the Office of the Chief of Staff with authentic presidential correspondence.

When asked whether the signatures matched, ACP Abdullahi responded:

“They are not the same.”

The committee said the discrepancies further strengthened suspicions that several State House documents presented by the purported agency had been forged.

Accountant-General Says Treasury Was Misled by Fake State House Letter

Also testifying before the committee, Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, said his office processed an administrative code for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council after receiving what appeared to be an authentic State House letter.

According to Ogunjimi, the correspondence, dated November 7, 2024, requested the creation of an administrative code to facilitate budgeting, accounting and financial reporting.

Believing the request originated from the Presidency, the Office of the Accountant-General approved the administrative code and notified the State House, copying the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.

Subsequently, the office received additional requests from the purported council seeking:

• Self-accounting status;
• Deployment of personnel;
• Opening of Treasury Single Account (TSA) and domiciliary accounts; and
• Funding approvals.

However, Ogunjimi stressed that no government funds were ever released.

“It is important to state that no funds were released under salaries, overhead, capital expenditure or any special intervention for the council,” he told lawmakers.

He added that a request for an establishment grant of ₦27.4 billion was rejected because no budgetary provision existed for such funding.

CBN Opened Accounts That Were Never Activated

The Accountant-General also disclosed that although the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the organisation, the accounts never became operational because mandatory regulatory requirements were not fulfilled.

Ogunjimi further revealed that correspondence sent by the Treasury back to the State House was allegedly intercepted before reaching the Presidency.

According to him, had the letter reached the appropriate officials, the fraud might have been detected much earlier.

“The letter was hijacked by the same individual claiming to be the Director-General,” he said.

Treasury Unaware Staff Were Moved to Purported Agency

Lawmakers also questioned how civil servants assigned to the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President were allegedly absorbed into the purported council without the Treasury’s knowledge.

Ogunjimi said his office never received official notification of any transfer and believed the officers remained in their original postings.

He added that when the organisation later requested five additional personnel, the Treasury approved only three because the staffing request appeared excessive.

House Investigation Continues

The House of Representatives established the ad hoc committee to investigate how the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council was incorporated into the 2026 federal budget framework despite questions surrounding its legal status.

The investigation has already produced several significant findings, including confirmation that the Central Bank opened two dormant foreign-currency accounts for the organisation, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected requests from the purported agency after due diligence revealed inconsistencies in its documentation.

Lawmakers say the ongoing probe aims to establish the full extent of the alleged fraud, determine how forged government documents circulated across multiple federal institutions, and recommend appropriate legal and administrative actions.