Fake Agency Scandal: Detained Adeyemi Denies Sole Responsibility, Alleges Involvement of Government MDAs
The self acclaimed Director General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, has denied allegations that he single handedly created the disputed agency, insisting that several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government officially recognised, processed and interacted with the council.
Adeyemi, who is currently in police custody, made the claims in a statement issued on Sunday through his legal defence team led by Festus Akhigbe. The statement also requested that the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating the council grant him the opportunity to appear and testify before its ongoing hearings.
According to the legal team, allowing Adeyemi to personally testify before the committee chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi is essential to ensuring a fair and balanced investigation. The lawyers argued that any report produced without hearing from their client would amount to a violation of his constitutional right to fair hearing.
“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. 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,” the statement read.
The defence team rejected attempts to portray Adeyemi as the sole architect of the controversial agency, maintaining that multiple government institutions acknowledged and processed documents relating to the council. It claimed that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation facilitated office allocation, while the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria allegedly issued administrative budget codes, granted self accounting status, posted civil servants to the council and approved the opening of operational accounts.
The lawyers further alleged that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved the agency’s organisational structure and recruitment waivers for 314 personnel. They also claimed that senior security officials attended programmes organised by the council, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission allocated a property to the organisation, requested processing fees and presented a plaque of recognition to its leadership.
“If the SGF, the Accountant General, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Head of Service, the Budget Office, the EFCC, the National Assembly and the heads of Nigeria’s primary security architecture all verified, processed, funded and officially interacted with this agency over an extended period, how can a single citizen be held uniquely responsible for failing to detect what the entire apparatus of the State validated?” the statement queried.
The defence maintained that Adeyemi was being made “a scapegoat” to conceal institutional lapses and procedural failures within government, calling for a broader investigation involving civil society organisations, legal experts and independent observers to scrutinise the paper trail across all ministries, departments and agencies linked to the council.
The lawyers added, “Justice cannot be served by prosecuting the mouthpiece while ignoring the state machinery that built, budgeted and bureaucratically birthed the entity. We reiterate our call for a truly comprehensive, multi stakeholder panel to audit the complete paper trail across all involved ministries, departments and agencies.”
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating the matter has continued its hearings, with several heads of government agencies appearing before the panel.
Among them was the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson Jack, who admitted that her office failed to carry out adequate due diligence before approving recruitment requests linked to the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
Source: Punch