House of Reps Directs IGP Disu to Produce PFIPC DG Adeyemi

By Adedapo Adesanya

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee probing the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) has ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Olatunji Disu, to ensure the appearance of the agency’s alleged Director-General, Mr Adeniyi Adeyemi, before the panel on July 29, 2026.

Mr Adeyemi was recently arrested after a court directed the police to do so.

The lawmakers’ call came on Monday just as the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, said that his office declined a request by the PFIPC to open a Treasury Single Account (TSA), insisting that due diligence had not been completed.

Mr Ogunjimi, who spoke when he appeared before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee, explained that though the council requested the opening of a TSA account, his office declined the request pending compliance with established due diligence requirements.

The PFIPC controversy began after the self-acclaimed director-general of the disputed agency, Mr Adeyemi, alleged during a presser that the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, demanded 48 per cent from its N27.3 billion take-off grant.

Mr Adeyemi had also alleged that the Chief of Staff received N400 million through a proxy and requested an additional N200 million to facilitate presidential approvals.

However, Mr Gbajabiamila denied the allegations in a statement on oath, maintaining that he had no personal, official or professional relationship with Mr Adeyemi. He also denied demanding or receiving any money, abusing his office or interfering with law enforcement agencies.

The Chief of Staff further denied any involvement in the alleged death of Mr Babatunde Tanimola, whom Mr Adeyemi claimed acted as an intermediary, as well as allegations linking him to an alleged assassination attempt on the defendant or interference with investigations by security agencies.

Following the allegations, President Bola Tinubu directed the ICPC to investigate the matter.

Also, Mr Gbajabiamila instituted a N15 billion defamation suit against the disputed DG at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

In the suit, he sought N10 billion in general damages, N5 billion in aggravated damages, N200 million as the cost of the action, and an order directing Mr Adeyemi to publish a retraction and apology in five national newspapers and across all social media platforms where the alleged defamatory statements were published.

Following the outrage generated by the issue, the House of Representatives inaugurated a 12-member ad hoc committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the disputed agency and the process through which it was included in the 2026 budget.

The committee is also investigating the alleged allocation of N1.3 billion to the agency in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

The committee is chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, who assured Nigerians that the panel would conduct a thorough and impartial investigation.

Last week, the ICPC confirmed that it questioned Mr Gbajabiamila over the disputed PFIPC, but didn’t give further details on its next step.

During her appearance, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Esther Walson-Jack, said her office did not allocate office space at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja nor deploy staff to the PFIPC.

“The request for deployment of officers was received and noted for consideration. However, there was no deployment of officers by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to the council,” said Mr Walson-Jack.

The Head of Service also noted that “while there is speculation that the council occupied office space in the Federal Secretariat Phase Three,” her office could state categorically that it “did not allocate any office space to the PFIPC”.

Similarly, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Tanimu Yakubu, told the committee that no kobo appropriated for the disputed agency was spent.

Mr Yakubu maintained that while the National Assembly approved funds for the council, the statutory conditions required to release, pay, or spend the money were never met.

“The conclusion is firm. Not one kobo of the personnel provision could lawfully have been drawn, and not one kobo was drawn. The overhead provision never matured into a lawful cash release,” Yakubu said.

“The capital provision never matured into procurement or expenditure. The conditions required for spending were not met and were not close to being met. There is therefore no personnel expenditure to recover. The money never moved because the controls held.”