SGF documents show fake agency corresponded with government despite denial
Official documents show the SGF’s office received and processed correspondence from the fake PFIPC, contradicting the Presidency’s claim that it never existed.
The Presidency has insisted that the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) never existed. But official documents from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation tell a different story.
The documents show that the SGF’s office formally received and processed correspondence submitted in the name of the PFIPC months before the council was publicly declared fictitious. Records indicate that the SGF’s office received a request on 12 November 2024 from Adeniyi Adeyemi, who was the Director-General of the PFIPC, seeking office space from recovered federal government properties managed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The request was forwarded to the anti-graft agency on 21 November 2024 for “further necessary action.”
A covering letter signed by the Permanent Secretary of the General Services Office, Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri, listed three government agencies requesting office space from recovered federal assets. One of the applications was identified as the PFIPC, with reference number SH/DG/PFIPC/RQ/107.
In his request, Adeyemi described the PFIPC as a federal investment promotion agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment into Nigeria and coordinating investment-related activities across ministries, departments and agencies. He claimed the council served as “the resource and coordinating centre for the nation’s foreign investment promotion activities” and “a one-stop shop for investments.”
These representations contradict the Presidency’s position. In a statement this week, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the PFIPC as a fictitious organisation, insisting that Adeyemi had fraudulently created the body and forged documents to give it legitimacy.
The documentary evidence raises broader governance questions. While the Presidency maintains that the PFIPC never existed, the SGF correspondence indicates that requests submitted in the council’s name were formally acknowledged and transmitted within the government. The documents suggest that correspondence bearing its identity passed through official administrative processes without immediate challenge, highlighting potential gaps in institutional verification and internal controls.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has urged the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to conduct an independent investigation into the controversy.
The winners: the Presidency, which has so far contained the political damage. The losers: the Nigerian public, which must now wonder how many other fictitious agencies are operating within government, and the SGF’s office, which processed requests from a fake agency without question.
Bottom Line: The SGF’s office received letters from a fake agency and did nothing. The Presidency says it never existed. Someone is not telling the truth.