A Member of the House of Representatives Committee investigating the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, has declared that the signature purportedly appointing Adeniyi Adeyemi as Director-General of the Council was different from the authentic signatures used by President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff on nine other official communications.
Gagdi made the disclosure during a session of the House Committee attended by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, as Lawmakers continued their investigation into the controversial agency and the circumstances surrounding its operations.
During the proceedings, Gagdi said the Committee had carefully examined several official correspondences issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President and found that the signatures on all of them matched, except for the letter purportedly appointing Adeniyi Adeyemi as Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
The Lawmaker stressed that he was deliberately choosing his words carefully while referring to Adeyemi as the “fake DG.”
According to Gagdi: “Letters written by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the National Security Adviser, to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service—you are seated here—to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the DSS, to the Nigerian Police, nine different letters from the Chief of Staff to the President, including some of his former signatures here, are unique and the same.”
He continued: “Only the signature that differs is the signature that appointed that—so I’m trying to watch my words—the fake DG.”
The comments came as Lawmakers scrutinized documents linked to the establishment and operations of the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, a body whose legitimacy has been questioned amid allegations that forged documents and falsified presidential approvals were used to give it official recognition.
The Committee’s ongoing investigation is examining whether official government institutions acted on forged correspondence and whether public officials were misled by documents purportedly issued from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, appeared before the Committee as part of the investigation into the alleged fake agency and issues surrounding the appointment documents.
Gagdi’s statement suggests that while the Committee found consistency in the Chief of Staff’s signatures across nine separate official letters addressed to key Government institutions — including the National Security Adviser, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigerian Police — the signature on the letter appointing Adeniyi Adeyemi as Director-General stood out as being different from all the others.
MJConcept TV News previously reported that the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, revealed that Adeyemi allegedly intercepted an official letter from the Office of the Accountant-General that could have exposed the alleged forgery of documents used to secure recognition for the Council.
Ogunjimi made the disclosure on Monday while appearing before the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the PFIPC controversy and the N1.3billion appropriated to the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The controversy has drawn national attention because Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, has been linked to the matter after Adeyemi claimed that Gbajabiamila signed his appointment letter as Director-General of the Council.
The Chief of Staff has, however, categorically denied issuing any such appointment letter.
Adeyemi was arrested on July 14 by operatives of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Osun State over allegations surrounding the establishment and operations of the Council.
Testifying before Lawmakers, Ogunjimi traced the Office of the Accountant-General’s first interaction with the PFIPC to November 2024, when his office received what appeared to be a legitimate request from the State House seeking the creation of an administrative code for the Council.
According to him, the request, which was written on official State House letterhead, sought the issuance of an administrative code to enable budgeting, accounting and financial reporting for the council.
Believing the request originated from the Presidency, the Office of the Accountant-General processed it in line with established procedures.
Ogunjimi said the Treasury subsequently created the administrative code and formally responded to the State House on November 29, 2024, while copying the Budget Office of the Federation.
However, he disclosed that the official response never reached the State House because it was allegedly intercepted by Adeyemi.
“The letter that was written to the Treasury for us to give an administrative code was responded to,” Ogunjimi told the Committee.
“Unfortunately, as events unfolded, it was discovered that that letter did not get to State House. It was hijacked, precisely by the same man who claimed to be the Director-General.”