The detained Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has asked the House of Representatives to grant the necessary administrative clearance to enable him appear before its ad hoc committee investigating the council and the controversial N1.302 billion allocation it received in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Adeyemi, through a statement issued by his legal team led by lawyer Festus Akhigbe, insisted that any report by the lawmakers without hearing directly from him would be “fundamentally flawed” and would violate his constitutional right to a fair hearing.
The request comes days after the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) informed the committee that Adeyemi could not be produced for questioning because he is being held in police custody under a valid court remand order.
In the statement, Adeyemi rejected suggestions that he single-handedly created and operated the PFIPC, alleging that he was being unfairly portrayed as “an isolated, master-mind impostor who single-handedly fabricated a federal government agency.”
According to his legal team, available administrative records show that several key government institutions recognised and dealt officially with the council, making it impossible for one individual to orchestrate such an operation alone.
“The administrative footprints of the PFIPC indicate a different story from the narrative being portrayed in the public,” the statement said.
The legal team listed a series of government institutions it claimed took official actions recognising the council.
It alleged that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation acknowledged official documentation and facilitated office allocation for the council within the Federal Secretariat Complex.
It also claimed that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria acted on official documentation by issuing administrative budget codes, granting self-accounting status, posting federal civil servants to the council and opening operational accounts.
According to the statement, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved the council’s establishment structure and granted recruitment waivers that enabled the employment of 314 personnel.
The legal team further alleged that the Budget Office of the Federation and the National Assembly processed documentation that resulted in the inclusion of a N1.302 billion allocation for the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act, which was subsequently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
It also claimed that security agencies engaged with the council, alleging that heads of major security agencies attended PFIPC programmes and that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission allocated a property to the council, requested a N300 million processing consideration and presented a plaque of recognition to its leadership.
“If these documents were crude forgeries, how did the central administrative engine of the Federal Government act upon them?” the statement queried.
The legal team argued that “it is an administrative impossibility for an unassisted individual” to deceive multiple federal institutions into recognising and working with the PFIPC.
It consequently alleged that Adeyemi was “being made a scapegoat to cover up deep-seated institutional lapses, procedural breakdowns, and internal approvals within the government structure.”
Calling on the House committee chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, the lawyers urged lawmakers to ensure Adeyemi is allowed to testify before conclusions are reached.
“In light of the ongoing proceedings by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, 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,” the statement read.
“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 (audi alteram partem).
“To reach a definitive conclusion, the committee must examine not only institutional witnesses but also the primary subject at the center of this controversy.”
The demand follows the committee’s investigative hearing last Wednesday, during which officials of several government agencies appeared before lawmakers over the PFIPC controversy and the N1.302 billion budgetary allocation.
At the hearing, Deputy Commissioner of Police Olufemi Akinola, representing the Inspector-General of Police, informed the committee that Adeyemi could not be released because he remains in custody pursuant to a valid court remand order.
Akinola told the lawmakers that the police would only produce Adeyemi before the committee if directed by a court of competent jurisdiction through the appropriate legal process.
