PFIPC Scandal: I’m made a scapegoat Now — Adeyemi

PFIPC Scandal: I’m made a scapegoat Now — Adeyemi

The director-general of fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Mr. Adeniyi Adeyemi, has appealed to the House of Representatives to issue an administrative clearance to allow him testify in the investigation hearing of the lower chamber.

In a statement issued by his legal team on Sunday, Adeyemi, who is currently in detention, said any legislative report on the PFIPC scandal without his testimony is “fundamentally flawed”.

Recall that last week, some officials of the federal government appeared before the house of representatives ad hoc committee investigating the PFIPC controversy and the N1.3 billion allocated to the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

During the committee’s hearing last Wednesday, Tunji Disu, inspector-general of Police (IGP), declined to produce Adeyemi before the ad hoc committee, citing that Adeyemi is being held in custody on a court order.

The committee had previously asked the IGP to produce Adeyemi during the hearing.

In the statement, Adeyemi’s legal team said their client is being framed as an “isolated, master-mind impostor who single-handedly fabricated a federal government agency”.

The legal team said the administrative footprints of the PFIPC indicates a different story from the narrative being circulated in the public.

The legal team said the house of representatives must probe the “undisputed institutional actions that created and validated” the PFIPC.

“The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF): Formally acknowledged documentation and facilitated official office allocations within the Federal Secretariat Complex,” the statement reads.

“If these documents were crude forgeries, how did the central administrative engine of the Federal Government act upon them?

“The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) & Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN): Acted on official documentation to issue administrative budget codes, grant self-accounting status, post federal civil service staff to the council, and officially open operational accounts.

“The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF): Formally approved the establishment structure and granted recruitment waivers that enabled the onboarding of three hundred and fourteen (314) personnel.

“The Budget Office of the Federation & National Assembly: Processed and vetted documentation leading to the formal insertion of a ₦1.302 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act, passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and signed into law by the President.

“Security Agencies & Anti-Graft Bodies: Heads of major security agencies attended programs organized by the council. Furthermore, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allocated a property to the council, requested a ₦300 million processing consideration, and its leadership presented a plaque of recognition to the council’s leadership.”

The legal team alleged that their client is “being made a scapegoat to cover up deep-seated institutional lapses, procedural breakdowns, and internal approvals within the government structure”.

“In light of the ongoing proceedings by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, we formally request that the panel issue the necessary administrative clearance to allow our client, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, to appear in person and testify,” the statement reads.

“Any investigative outcome or final legislative report produced without affording our client a direct hearing would be fundamentally flawed, incomplete, and a breach of the constitutional right to a fair hearing (audi alteram partem).

“To reach a definitive conclusion, the committee must examine not only institutional witnesses but also the primary subject at the center of this controversy.”