Follow Us on Google
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, yesterday, said it never had any dealings with the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) .
The Permanent Secretary, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Dunoma Umar Ahmed, stated this, when he appeared before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the activities of the PFIPC.
Ahmed, who stood in for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, disclosed that though the self acclaimed Director General of the agency, Adeniyi Adeyemi, approached the Ministry on three occasions, seeking collaboration to host World Investment Summit, the requests were declined due to inconsistencies in the correspondence.
He explained that based on the discrepancies on the requests submitted by Adeyemi, the Ministry wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), on October 16, 2025, seeking clarification on the status of the director general of the agency.
According to him, the ONSA later reverted to the Ministry on November 26, 2025, indicating that its finding from the the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and Chief of Staff (CoS) to Mr. President revealed that Adeniyi Adeyemi is not known to any office of the Federal Government.
Ahmed explained that “in line with available records, Prince Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, (PEAC/PFIDC) has approached the Ministry on three different occasions, requesting the Ministry’s collaboration and endorsement to enable him host World Investment Summit in Nigeria, both in 2025 and 2026. Specifically, the Ministry received the first, second and third requests on June 26, 2025, August 5, 2025, and June 5, 2026 respectively.
“Guided by extant rules and regulations as well as the necessity of carrying out due diligence before obliging any request, the Ministry, however, did not take any action on the requests.
“The Ministry’s refusal to oblige the requests was further necessitated by some of the discrepancies observed in the letters submitted by Prince Adeyemi and the ongoing investigation on the legitimacy of the PFIPC and the personality of its alleged Director-General.
Other News
“Furthermore, it is pertinent to state that having discovered the discrepancies on the requests submitted by Prince Adeyemi, the Ministry, on October 16, 2025, wrote a letter to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), requesting clarification on the status of Prince Adeyemi as Director-General of the PFIPC.
“In response, the ONSA reverted to the Ministry on November 26, 2025, indicating that the responses it received from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and Chief of Staff (CoS) to Mr. President revealed that Prince Adeyemi is unknown to any office of the Federal Government.
“The Ministry did not participate in any diplomatic engagement, bilateral and multilateral discussions held by the PFIPC. The PFIPC did not facilitate or receive any foreign investors, partners and delegations through the Ministry.
“According to the available records in the Ministry, there is no document, Memorandum of Understanding and agreement signed with foreign governments by the Council.
“The Ministry did not play any role with the Council in promoting Nigeria’s investment abroad. No Nigerian Mission had interaction with the PFIPC, since they did not receive any directive from the Ministry in that regard, in line with the Ministry’s extant procedures and line of communication.”
After the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s presentation, the Ad-hoc Committee resolved to summon the Office of the National Secretary Adviser ( ONSA) to appear before it to explain what it did regarding the PFIPC, after its correspondence with the ministry.
This is as the chairman of the panel, Yusuf Gagdi, frowned at the absence of ministers at the investigative hearing, insisting that Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele and all others summoned in respect to the probe must appear in person tomorrow, unfailingly.
The Ad-hoc Committee had, on Monday, summoned the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume; the CBN governor, Yemi Cardoso and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, alongside the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Finance.
Others also summoned include the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Latef Fagbemi; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi; Budget Office of the Federation, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC).
