Fresh official documents have raised new questions over the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) after revealing that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) formally received and processed a request for office accommodation submitted in the council’s name months before the Presidency publicly declared the agency non-existent.
The controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has taken a fresh turn following the emergence of official correspondence showing that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation processed a request for office accommodation made on behalf of the council.
The documents have intensified scrutiny over how the purported agency interacted with government institutions before the Presidency later described it as fictitious.
According to the documents, Prince Matthew Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as Director-General of the PFIPC, wrote to the SGF’s office on November 7, 2024, requesting office accommodation from recovered Federal Government properties.
Registry records indicate that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation received the request on November 12, 2024.
A subsequent letter dated November 21, 2024, signed by Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri, Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, on behalf of the SGF, forwarded the request to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for what was described as “further necessary action.”
The forwarding letter listed the PFIPC among government institutions requesting office accommodation from recovered federal properties and attached Adeyemi’s original application.
The documents surfaced amid the ongoing criminal case involving Adeyemi, who has been accused by the Presidency of forging an appointment letter, falsely presenting himself as Director-General of the PFIPC and operating what officials describe as a fictitious government agency.
In an earlier statement, the Presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, maintained that the PFIPC never existed and said police investigations concluded that the appointment documents relied upon by Adeyemi were forged.
However, the newly surfaced correspondence has prompted fresh questions about how official communications from the council were received, acknowledged and processed within government institutions before the alleged fraud was uncovered.
Within his application, Adeyemi described the PFIPC as a federal investment promotion agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment, coordinating investment activities across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and serving as a “one-stop investment centre” for investors.
The documents themselves do not establish that the council was lawfully created; rather, they show that its correspondence was officially received and forwarded within the administrative system. Investigations and court proceedings relating to the alleged operation of the council remain ongoing.
The emergence of the SGF correspondence has added another dimension to the PFIPC controversy, which continues to generate legal and political debate. As investigations proceed, attention is expected to remain focused on how the purported agency engaged with multiple government institutions before it was publicly disowned by the Presidency.