PFIPC Scandal: Head of Civil Service Admits Due Diligence Failure Over Recruitment Waiver

…Says incident unprecedented in nearly 100 years of Federal Civil Service

…Accountant-General’s Office blames individual officer for letter diversion

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Esther Didi Walson-Jack, has admitted that her office failed to carry out adequate due diligence before approving an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver for the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

Walson-Jack made the admission on Wednesday while appearing before the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the alleged creation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) without legal backing.

The committee said its investigation had uncovered what it described as a network of fake documents allegedly used to obtain official government approvals for the purported agency.

Addressing lawmakers, the Head of Service acknowledged that her office relied on documents later discovered to be fake when granting the recruitment waiver.

“Having seen all the facts and examined the documents, we concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in issuing the authorised establishment and recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC,” she said.

Walson-Jack explained that officials of the purported agency appeared before her office during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence, presenting themselves as representatives of a newly established federal agency. According to her, they submitted what appeared to be an Establishment Act and a letter appointing a Director-General.

She noted that under existing civil service procedures, any newly established agency seeking recruitment approval is required to present an enabling Act, the appointment letter of its chief executive and other supporting documents before an authorised establishment and provisional recruitment waiver can be issued.

According to her, the documents submitted met the procedural requirements on the surface, prompting her office to process the request.

“In almost a century of the Federal Civil Service, we have never encountered a situation like this. Criminals always try to stay ahead of law enforcement,” she told the committee.

However, under further questioning, Walson-Jack admitted that the purported Establishment Act was not authentic.

“I requested to examine the documents myself, and immediately I saw the Establishment Act, I knew it was not authentic. With nearly 30 years of legal practice, I could identify the discrepancies,” she said.

She also questioned the authenticity of the appointment letter purportedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, noting that the signatures did not match genuine official correspondence.

“I am not a forensic expert, but I can clearly see that the signatures are not the same,” she added.

The committee chairman disclosed that forensic analysis conducted by the Nigeria Police had confirmed that the signatures were completely different and not even an attempt to imitate those of the authorised signatories.

Lawmakers also alleged that the purported Establishment Act lacked the essential features of a valid Act of the National Assembly, including citation numbers, gazette references and other statutory identifiers.

Despite acknowledging the lapses, Walson-Jack maintained that her office followed established procedures based on the documents presented.

“Everything was done in accordance with existing practice. Out of the 88 Ministries, Departments and Agencies processed, we are surprised that we failed to detect that the PEAC/PFIPC presented a fake Establishment Act and what has now been confirmed to be a fake appointment letter,” she said.

She assured the committee that reforms would be introduced to strengthen internal verification processes and prevent similar incidents in the future.

Meanwhile, officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation also appeared before the committee over the issuance of an administrative code to the purported agency.

A former Director of Consolidation Account and Director of Federal Projects, Mr. Joshua Patmi Luka, explained that his office received what appeared to be an official request from the State House and, in line with due process, addressed its response to the Permanent Secretary, State House, rather than directly to the agency.

However, the committee faulted the process after evidence showed that the response letter never reached the Permanent Secretary but was instead collected by the alleged fake Director-General.

The lawmakers further revealed that the Directorate of Administration and Support Services referenced in the correspondence did not exist within the State House, describing the development as part of a coordinated scheme involving fake appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents and fictitious government offices.

Responding to the allegations, Luka maintained that the failure was not institutional but the result of an individual officer’s negligence in dispatching the letter.

“The problem was not an office lapse; it was an individual lapse. Someone was supposed to deliver the letter to the Permanent Secretary, State House, but that did not happen,” he said.

The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police Olufemi Akinola of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, also informed the committee that the alleged Director-General of the purported agency, Prince Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, could not be produced because he remains in lawful custody under a subsisting court order.

The police, however, assured the committee of continued cooperation, explaining that producing the suspect before the lawmakers would require a valid order from a court of competent jurisdiction.

The committee said it would conclude the clarification stage of its investigation before releasing its preliminary findings next week, ahead of the submission of its final report to the House of Representatives after lawmakers resume from recess.