Reps Uncover 29 Alleged Forged Documents in Fake Presidential Agency Scandal, Give IGP 48-Hour Ultimatum
The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council has uncovered 29 documents suspected to have been forged in what lawmakers described as an elaborate scheme to give legitimacy to a non-existent government agency.
The committee also issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to produce the self-acclaimed Director-General of the council, Adeyemi Adeniyi, before the panel to answer questions over the alleged fraud.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, disclosed the development on Monday during the panel’s resumed investigative hearing, saying the alleged forgery was far more extensive than initially believed.
“It is not only a letter that was suspected to be forged. 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,” Gagdi said.
According to him, investigators have identified about 29 allegedly forged documents, including purported approvals from the State House, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Finance and several other government institutions.
Gagdi noted that representatives of many of the affected institutions had already appeared before the committee and disowned the documents attributed to their offices.
The committee consequently directed its Clerk, Baba Kaigama, to formally notify the Inspector-General of Police to ensure Adeniyi appears before the panel by noon on Wednesday.
“This committee clearly needs the suspected DG to appear before us. People’s names are involved. People’s integrity is involved. Institutional names are involved. Institutional integrity is involved.
“It is not an option now. We will need him here to confirm some documents for us in such a way that will not undermine our investigation and enable us to submit our report on time,” Gagdi added.
He explained that while the committee wanted answers, it had deliberately avoided compelling the police to disclose information that could jeopardise ongoing criminal investigations.
Representing the Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police Bashir Abdullahi told lawmakers that the police had already filed an eight-count charge against Adeniyi before the Federal High Court.
He revealed that investigations were triggered by petitions from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, accusing the suspect of impersonating the Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
According to the police, Adeniyi allegedly used the fictitious office to secure accommodation within the Federal Secretariat, sought approval to recruit about 300 personnel, attempted to obtain a N1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act and planned to organise a World Investment Summit through the non-existent agency.
During the hearing, the committee also compared signatures on documents purportedly issued from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President with authentic official correspondence obtained by investigators.
When asked whether the signatures matched, ACP Abdullahi replied:
“They are not the same.”
The lawmakers said the discrepancy further reinforced suspicions that several State House documents relied upon by the purported council had been forged.
Also testifying before the committee, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, disclosed that his office unknowingly acted on what appeared to be an authentic State House correspondence requesting the creation of an administrative code for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, only for investigations to later reveal that the letter never originated from the Presidency.
Ogunjimi explained that although the Treasury processed the request in line with established procedures, no public funds were ever released to the organisation.
“It is important to note that no funds were released under salaries, overhead, capital or any form of intervention or special allocation to the council,” he said.
He further disclosed that the purported council requested an establishment grant of N27.4 billion, but the request was rejected because there was no budgetary provision to support it.
The Accountant-General also revealed that although the Central Bank of Nigeria opened two domiciliary accounts for the organisation, they were never activated because the regulatory requirements for their operation were not met.
According to him, investigations later revealed that official correspondence sent by the Treasury to the State House had been intercepted before reaching the Presidency.
“The letter did not reach the State House. It was hijacked, precisely by the same man who claimed to be the DG. If it had reached the State House, the forgery would have been discovered much earlier,” Ogunjimi stated.
The committee is expected to continue its investigation into how the controversial agency found its way into the 2026 Appropriation framework and determine the level of involvement of individuals and institutions linked to the alleged fraud.