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The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the operations of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), yesterday, said it had traced 58 bank accounts, as well as 12 organisations, to the Director-General of the phantom agency.
The Chairman of the Committee, Yusuf Gagdi, disclosed this while presenting a preliminary report of the panel at a press briefing in Abuja.
Gagdi explained that the committee’s findings indicated that the Bank Verification Number (BVN) associated with Adeyemi was linked to personal, corporate, organisational and foundation accounts.
According to him, “Entities and Bank Accounts Information received from financial and investigative institutions indicates that the Bank Verification Number and other identifying details associated with Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, also referred to in certain records as Adeyemi Matthew, were linked to a substantial network of personal, corporate, organisational and foundation accounts.”
He added that “Preliminary financial information indicates that approximately 58 bank accounts were linked through the relevant identifying information, with more than 30 accounts apparently operated in the names of approximately nine agencies, companies, foundations or related entities.”
Gagdi noted that “evidence presently before the Committee suggests that Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi may have been connected, directly or indirectly, with more than twelve such entities.
“The Committee is determining whether these entities were conceived or utilised to create artificial credibility, solicit funds, obtain investments, procure official recognition, secure government facilities or induce members of the public to part with money.”
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Furthermore, Gagdi stated that before the Committee submits its final report, it shall “reconcile the legal identities and ownership structures of all associated entities; verify the precise number, ownership and control of all identified bank accounts.
“Analyse relevant financial transactions and determine the aggregate sums received, transferred or withdrawn; identify account signatories, operators and beneficial owners; establish the roles of all public officers connected with the matter.”
The lawmaker, while speaking on the legal status of the PFIPC, noted that the panel’s investigation showed that there is no valid Act of the National Assembly, Presidential Executive Order or any lawful instrument establishing the agency.
Gagdi noted that “On the basis of the evidence presently before it, the Committee preliminarily determines that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council was not lawfully established.”
Furthermore, Gagdi noted that the Committee identified serious weaknesses within the administrative machinery of government. These, according to him, are deficiencies in: verification of the lawful existence of government institutions; creation and administration of budget and administrative codes, among others.
The House had on July 8 adopted a motion to probe how the PFIPC got into the 2026 Appropriation Act, after the Presidency disclaimed the agency, saying that it was legally established. Indications also emerged that apart from getting appropriation in the 2026 fiscal year, the phantom agency, which operated from the Federal Secretariat, had also opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
