Adeniyi Adeyemi, the detained self-proclaimed Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), has denied acting alone, accusing several key Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of fully endorsing, funding, and recognising the entity.
Adeyemi made these assertions in a statement released on Sunday through his lead counsel, Festus Akhigbe.
The legal team rejected allegations that Adeyemi unilaterally fabricated the council, insisting that multiple federal bodies validated its existence through official paperwork and institutional backing.
“I didn’t act alone” — Adeniyi Adeyemi
Addressing the ongoing probe by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, Adeyemi’s lawyers demanded that their client be granted administrative clearance to testify in person.
The defence team warned that any legislative report issued without hearing Adeyemi’s side of the story would violate his constitutional right to a fair hearing (audi alteram partem).
“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 emphasised.
Defence lists key federal institutions involved
Refuting claims that Adeniyi Adeyemi operated as an isolated impostor, the legal team detailed extensive administrative interactions between the disputed council and top government bodies:
Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF): Formally acknowledged documentation and allocated office space within the Federal Secretariat.
Office of the Accountant-General & Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN): Issued administrative budget codes, granted self-accounting status, deployed federal civil servants, and opened official operational bank accounts.
Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF): Approved the agency’s organisational structure and issued recruitment waivers to hire 314 personnel.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC): Allocated a property to the council, collected a processing fee, and presented an award of recognition to its leadership.
Security Agencies & National Assembly: High-ranking security chiefs attended council-organised events, while legislative bodies interacted with the agency over extended periods.
Scapegoating allegations and call for independent probe
Adeyemi’s defence argued that it is bureaucratically impossible for an individual to deceive every arm of the Federal Government simultaneously without high-level institutional approval.
“Justice cannot be served by prosecuting the mouthpiece while ignoring the state machinery that built, budgeted, and bureaucratically birthed the entity,” the legal team stated, alleging that Adeyemi is being framed to cover up systemic failures across federal institutions.
They called for an independent, multi-stakeholder panel—comprising civil society groups, legal practitioners, and neutral observers—to audit the entire paper trail across all involved MDAs.
This development follows testimony before the House committee by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, who conceded that her office omitted critical due diligence before approving staff recruitment requests for the council.
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