JUST IN: Reps Blow Open Adeyemi’s Network of 12 Fake Agencies, 58 Bank Accounts

 

By Al-Amin Ciroma

The ongoing investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council has taken a dramatic turn, with the House of Representatives uncovering what it described as a wider network of allegedly fictitious government-linked organisations, bank accounts and personnel associated with embattled Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi.

The House ad-hoc committee investigating the matter said its preliminary findings traced 58 bank accounts and 39 workers to Adeyemi, while also identifying 12 organisations that lawmakers said were allegedly operating as fake government agencies.

The revelations, THE NATIONAL LENS gathered, have significantly widened the scope of a controversy that initially centred on the existence of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) and Adeyemi's claim to be its Director-General.

According to the committee, the PFIPC was not lawfully established, while the document presented as Adeyemi's appointment letter was also described as fake.

The lawmakers' findings suggest that the issue may therefore extend beyond a single disputed government institution to a broader structure allegedly created and operated under the appearance of official government authority.

Among the organisations identified in the investigation are the FCT Investment Promotion Council, FCT Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership, United Nations Youth Global Foundation and Olubadan of Ibadan Foundation.

The committee's disclosure comes after earlier investigations by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which had alleged that Adeyemi created additional fictitious agencies and relied on purported legislative instruments to give them an appearance of legality.

The ICPC had specifically identified the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency/Public-Private Partnership as entities allegedly created by Adeyemi. The anti-corruption agency also said purported laws were used in connection with the opening of bank accounts for the organisations.

Our Correspondent reports that the latest parliamentary findings now raise a bigger question: how were multiple organisations, dozens of bank accounts and scores of workers allegedly linked to an institution that lawmakers say was never lawfully established?

That question is likely to become central as the investigation progresses because the scale of the alleged operation points to more than an isolated administrative irregularity.

The committee also exonerated former Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who had earlier raised concerns over the activities of the purported agency. The lawmakers commended him for drawing attention to the matter.

The House has yet to present its final report, meaning the allegations remain subject to further investigation and verification. The identities and specific roles of the 39 workers, the transactions involving the 58 accounts and the precise relationship between the 12 organisations are expected to receive further scrutiny.

For now, however, the investigation has transformed the PFIPC controversy from a dispute over the legitimacy of one agency into a much broader examination of how allegedly fictitious institutions could acquire the appearance of government authority, establish financial channels and recruit personnel.

The eventual findings could determine whether the scandal was the work of a single individual or whether a wider network of people and institutions enabled the alleged operation to continue.