PFIPC’s Adeyemi seeks clearance to testify before Reps panel, says he’s being ‘made a scapegoat’
Adeniyi Adeyemi, director-general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), has asked the House of Representatives to grant him administrative clearance to testify before the ad hoc committee investigating the council’s activities.
In a statement issued by his legal team on Monday, Adeyemi who is currently in custody said any legislative report on the PFIPC controversy produced without his testimony would be “fundamentally flawed.” His legal team is led by Festus Akhigbe, a lawyer.
Last week, several federal government officials appeared before the House ad hoc committee probing the PFIPC scandal and the ₦1.3 billion allocated to the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
During the committee’s hearing on Wednesday, Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu declined to produce Adeyemi before lawmakers, citing his client’s detention under a court order. The committee had earlier directed the IGP to produce Adeyemi for questioning.
In the statement, Adeyemi’s legal team said their client was being portrayed as an “isolated, master-mind impostor who single-handedly fabricated a federal government agency”—a narrative they said was contradicted by what they described as the council’s administrative history.
The legal team urged the House to examine what they called “undisputed institutional actions” tied to the PFIPC’s creation and operations, alleging that:
*The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) formally acknowledged PFIPC documentation and facilitated office allocations within the Federal Secretariat Complex.
*The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria acted on official documentation to issue budget codes, grant self-accounting status, and open operational accounts for the council.
*The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved the council’s establishment structure and granted recruitment waivers said to have enabled the onboarding of 314 personnel.
*The Budget Office of the Federation and the National Assembly processed documentation that led to the council’s ₦1.302 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act, which was passed by both chambers and signed into law.
*The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allocated a property to the council, requested a ₦300 million processing consideration, and had its leadership present a plaque of recognition to the council.
The legal team argued it would be an “administrative impossibility for an unassisted individual” to mislead multiple federal agencies, insisting that Adeyemi was “being made a scapegoat to cover up deep-seated institutional lapses, procedural breakdowns, and internal approvals within the government structure.”
“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.
The legal team maintained that any investigative outcome reached without a direct hearing for their client would be “incomplete” and would breach his constitutional right to fair hearing, or audi alteram partem.
