Reps Invite SGF Akume, Finance Minister, Others Over PFIPC Operations

Reps Invite SGF Akume, Finance Minister, Others Over PFIPC Operations
CBN confirms PFIPC accounts existed but remained dormant without signatories.
Committee investigates council’s office, funding, legal status and budget inclusion.

The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the disputed Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PIFPC) has invited the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, and other senior government officials to explain the circumstances surrounding the council’s operations.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the committee specifically wants Akume to explain how the PFIPC allegedly acquired office space within the Federal Secretariat despite questions over its legal status and establishment.

The decision was taken on Monday during a public hearing held in Abuja by the Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Circumstances Surrounding the Existence and Operations of PFIPC and its Inclusion in the Budget Framework.

The panel also invited the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele; the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN; the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Shamseldeen Ogunjimi; and the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu.

Other relevant officials were also directed to appear before the committee on July 21 to explain their roles, if any, in the establishment, funding and operations of the controversial council.

The PFIPC, headed by Adeyemi Adeniyi, was reported to have operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat, maintained accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and appeared in the 2026 national budget.

Questions have, however, been raised over whether the council was established through the required legal and administrative procedures.

The committee widened its inquiry following submissions from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Appearing before the panel, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the office space occupied by the PFIPC had originally been allocated to her office.

She told lawmakers that the council approached the OHCSF to approve its proposed organisational structure but that the request was rejected because it failed to provide the required documentation.

Walson-Jack added that her office neither deployed civil servants to the council nor approved office accommodation for it.

Her submission prompted the committee to seek clarification on how the council gained access to the space within the Federal Secretariat.

The Director of Banking at the CBN, Hamisu Abdullahi, also confirmed that two accounts were opened in the name of the PFIPC.

Abdullahi told the panel that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation wrote to the apex bank on July 30, 2025, granting clearance for the accounts to be opened.

He explained that government agencies seeking to open or close accounts, or change account signatories, must first obtain clearance from the Accountant-General’s office before the CBN can act.

The CBN official, however, said the PFIPC accounts were never operated because no individuals presented themselves to be registered as authorised signatories.

According to him, although the accounts were created, they remained dormant.

Reps Invite SGF Akume, Finance Minister, Others Over PFIPC Operations

Chairman of the committee, Yusuf Gagdi, said the panel would investigate all the circumstances surrounding the council’s existence, office allocation, bank accounts and inclusion in the federal budget.

Gagdi assured Nigerians that the committee would get to the root of the matter and establish whether due process was followed by the officials and institutions involved.