The detained self-acclaimed Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has denied responsibility for allegedly creating the disputed agency, claiming that several federal ministries, departments and agencies officially recognised, processed and supported its operations.
Adeyemi, who is currently in police custody, made the claims in a statement issued on Sunday through his legal defence team headed by Festus Akhigbe.
He also demanded an opportunity to testify before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the council’s activities.
His lawyers argued that preventing him from appearing before the committee chaired by Yusuf Gagdi would violate his constitutional right to a fair hearing and render any outcome of the investigation incomplete.
The defence rejected claims that Adeyemi independently established the agency, insisting that key government institutions had validated its operations over an extended period.
According to the statement, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation acknowledged documents relating to the council and facilitated office accommodation within the Federal Secretariat.
The lawyers further alleged that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria processed official documents that enabled the council to obtain administrative budget codes, self-accounting status, operational bank accounts and the deployment of federal civil servants.
They also claimed that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved the council’s organisational structure and granted waivers that allowed the recruitment of 314 personnel.
The defence further alleged that heads of security agencies attended programmes organised by the council, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission allocated office space to the organisation, requested processing fees and recognised its leadership.
Questioning why only Adeyemi was being investigated, the lawyers argued that it would have been impossible for one individual to deceive multiple government institutions without official backing.
“If the SGF, the Accountant-General, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Head of Service, the Budget Office, the EFCC, the National Assembly and heads of security agencies all processed and interacted with the agency, it is impossible to hold one individual solely responsible,” the statement said.
The legal team maintained that Adeyemi was being made a scapegoat for broader institutional failures and called for an expanded probe involving civil society groups, legal practitioners and independent observers to examine the role played by all government agencies linked to the council.
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It also urged the House committee to allow Adeyemi to testify before concluding its investigation, insisting that any report issued without hearing his side of the matter would fall short of the principles of natural justice.
The latest development comes as the House of Representatives continues its investigation into the controversial council.
During the ongoing hearings, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, acknowledged that her office failed to conduct adequate due diligence before approving recruitment requests linked to the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
