House Probe Uncovers Fresh Contradictions Over PFIPC, FRSC Moves to Recover Plates

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has uncovered fresh inconsistencies surrounding the council’s alleged establishment, following the State House’s denial of any involvement in its creation and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC)’s explanation of how official government number plates were issued to the body.

During an investigative hearing in Abuja on Thursday, the committee received testimonies from officials of the State House and the FRSC as part of its ongoing inquiry into how the PFIPC allegedly operated as a federal agency despite questions over its legal status and inclusion in aspects of the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Representing the Permanent Secretary of the State House, the Director of Administration, Abdulkadri Idris, told lawmakers that the Presidency neither established the council nor requested the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to generate a budget code for it. He stated that the State House had no prior knowledge of the council until reports about it surfaced in the media.
Idris also described documents presented before the committee as fraudulent, noting that they referred to a Directorate of Administration and Support Services, which does not exist in the State House. He further said the documents were signed by one Akande Adewale, whom he insisted had never served as Director of Administration in the Presidency.
According to him, records of Directors of Administration from 2003 to date contain no such name, adding that the State House only has a Department of Administration and not a Directorate of Administration and Support Services.
The State House also denied issuing any appointment letter to the council’s purported Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, stressing that appointments of heads of federal agencies are communicated through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Reacting to the testimony, Chairman of the committee, Yusuf Gagdi, said the submissions exposed glaring contradictions between documents obtained from the Office of the Accountant-General and the records supplied by the State House. He noted that while the Accountant-General acted on correspondence allegedly from the State House, the Presidency had denied authoring such documents or recognising the office and signatory named in them.
The FRSC, however, defended its decision to allocate seven official Federal Government vehicle number plates to the PFIPC, explaining that it followed its standard verification procedures based on documents and representations submitted by the applicants.
In a memorandum signed by Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed, the Corps stated that the request was made by Adeniyi Adeyemi alongside documents outlining the council’s mandate. It added that officials verified the documents, inspected the council’s office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, checked a government-domain website provided by the applicant and confirmed the chassis numbers of the vehicles before approving the registration.
Following the verification process, the FRSC approved and allocated seven official Federal Government vehicle number plates to the agency. The vehicles included a 2024 bulletproof Lexus LX, two Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs and four Toyota Hilux vehicles, registered as PFIPC 01 to PFIPC 07.
Mohammed said the Corps later discovered that the PFIPC was not an approved Federal Government agency and had already commenced steps to recover all seven number plates issued to it. He described the discovery as shocking, saying the representations made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi were false.
During the hearing, Gagdi questioned the adequacy of the FRSC’s verification process, observing that some of the documents relied upon lacked standard government security features and unusually listed several top government officials as members of the council. When asked whether such an arrangement appeared normal, the Corps Marshal replied that it did not.
The committee directed the FRSC to provide details of the current status and location of all vehicles registered under the PFIPC and announced that the investigation would conclude next Wednesday.
Lawmakers said the probe is aimed at establishing how the council emerged, identifying those responsible for its operations and recommending measures to prevent similar breaches of government administrative procedures in the future.