Head of Service admits lax due diligence on PFIPC approvals

The Head of the Civil Service has admitted that her office failed to carry out adequate due diligence before approving recruitment requests linked to the fake PFIPC.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, has admitted that her office failed to carry out adequate due diligence before approving recruitment requests linked to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC). Speaking before the House of Representatives Committee investigating the activities of the PFIPC and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), Walson-Jack said her office relied on documents presented by the organisation and interactions with its representatives without independently verifying their authenticity.

She acknowledged that the Office of the Head of Service should have conducted more thorough checks before issuing an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver. Walson-Jack explained that the existence of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council as an ad hoc body may have contributed to the confusion. The House committee is investigating the council over alleged fraudulent activities and the process through which it secured official recognition and recruitment approvals from government institutions.

The admission is a significant development in the PFIPC scandal. The Head of Service’s admission that due diligence was not conducted raises questions about the verification processes within the civil service. The House committee’s investigation is likely to focus on how the fake agency secured official recognition.

This echoes the 2012 pension fraud scandal, which also exposed systemic weaknesses in the civil service’s verification processes. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: a system so broken that fake entities can operate with impunity.

The winners: the House of Representatives, which is conducting a thorough investigation; and the Nigerian public, who may finally get answers. The losers: the Office of the Head of Service, which faces reputational damage; and the Nigerian government, which faces another scandal.

Bottom Line: The Head of Service admits her office failed to vet the fake agency. The PFIPC scandal is growing. The question is who else failed to do their job.