The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has directed the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to produce the agency’s Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, within 48 hours.
The directive was issued on Monday during the committee’s resumed sitting as lawmakers intensified their investigation into the activities of the council, which the panel has described as an alleged fake agency.
The committee said Adeyemi’s appearance is necessary to enable lawmakers obtain firsthand information and advance their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the establishment and operations of the PFIPC.
Lawmakers directed that the embattled Director-General be produced before the panel on Wednesday to answer questions relating to the ongoing inquiry.
The committee has not disclosed further details of the allegations against the agency but maintained that Adeyemi’s testimony is critical to its investigation.
The controversy surrounding the PFIPC has persisted for several months, with Adeyemi accusing the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, of corruption over the agency’s budgetary allocation. Gbajabiamila has denied the allegations.
The dispute prompted President Bola Tinubu to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter and submit its findings within 30 days.
Adeyemi, who had reportedly gone into hiding, was later arrested in Osun State after a bench warrant was issued against him by the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of forgery and impersonation brought by the Nigeria Police Force.
He is currently in police custody.
The PFIPC controversy has attracted widespread public attention, with opposition figures and other stakeholders calling for a comprehensive investigation into how the agency was included in the federal budget, reportedly operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat, and had domiciliary accounts opened for it at the Central Bank of Nigeria despite questions surrounding its legal status.
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