The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday said it had opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.

This is as the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, appeared at the headquarters of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to testify in the ongoing investigation into the activities of the fictitious agency.

The apex bank’s admission came at the public hearing convened at the National Assembly Complex by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the existence and operations of the PFIPC, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

The PUNCH gathered that Monday’s hearing revealed critical gaps in the bureaucratic processes that allowed the fictitious agency to obtain the functional perks accorded to real government agencies.

Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said the accounts, one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

“On July 30, 2025, we received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General. We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.

He explained the CBN’s verification process, saying, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.

“The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.

“We did not receive any correspondence, mandate, signature or mandate cards. We were not introduced to the authorising or approving officers.

“Based on that, those accounts remain inactive, with zero balance. There have been no foreign exchange allocations.

“The accounts have maintained zero balance from inception to date and have never recorded any inflow or outflow,” Ibrahim said, adding that a statement of account had been attached to the committee’s records.

However, the CBN’s account directly contradicted an earlier submission by Accountant-General Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, who had claimed that no accounts were opened in the PFIPC’s name.

Walson-Jack testifies

Also testifying before the committee, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, said her office never allocated any space to the PFIPC.

Records available to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service, she said, showed that the office space reportedly occupied by the council at the Federal Secretariat Phase III had been officially allocated to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, not to the fictitious council.

“There is speculation that the council occupied office space in the Federal Secretariat Phase III. We can state categorically that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation did not allocate any office space to the council.

“The office space indicated as the council’s official address forms part of the office accommodation allocated to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the use of the OSGF and presidential bodies,” she said.

Walson-Jack, however, told the committee that during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence Exercise, the council submitted additional documents through one Patricia Akhigbe, including the appointment letter of its Director-General and details of its mandate, after which its request was processed alongside those of 87 other ministries, departments and agencies.

An authorised establishment for 314 positions was subsequently issued to the council, and a recruitment waiver followed days later, she explained.

Walson-Jack said Akhigbe had since been invited for questioning by the police.

She stressed that her office neither deployed staff to the council nor approved any recruitment, and urged the committee to direct further inquiries to the Office of the SGF.

In his ruling after the day’s hearing, committee chairman Gagdi asked the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, and other top government functionaries to appear before the panel on Thursday.

He stated, “In continuation of this assignment, the secretariat should invite the SGF to appear and brief this committee on the issues raised.

“Also to appear on Thursday are the Inspector-General of Police, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice as well as the Minister of Budget and National Planning.”

“Also invited are the Accountant-General of the Federation, heads of the Budget Office of the Federation, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.”

ICPC quizzes Gbajabiamila

Meanwhile, in fulfillment of President Bola Tinubu’s directive on July 7 ordering the ICPC to investigate the PFIPC scandal within 30 days, Gbajabiamila appeared at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, arriving at approximately 3:00 pm and departing at around 3:30 pm.

His legal counsel, Jiti Ogunye of Jiti Ogunye Chambers, confirmed the appearance in a statement signed Monday evening titled “Gbajabiamila Responds to ICPC invitation over Ongoing Investigation into ‘PFIPC’ Fake Agency”.

Ogunye wrote, “In full cooperation with the ICPC, acting as directed by the President of Nigeria, I hereby confirm that my client, Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria, responded to the invitation of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and appeared at about 15:00 hours on Monday, July 20, 2026, as part of the ongoing investigation into the activities of the ‘PFIPC’ fake agency, among others. My client gave his testimony, responded to questions accordingly, and has returned to his duty post.”

Sources within the ICPC confirmed that Gbajabiamila arrived following a formal invitation from the commission and volunteered information relevant to the probe.

“The Chief of Staff was in our office earlier today (Monday). He came to volunteer information to help our investigation on the fake agency matter. He came personally and left after he said all he knew about the matter at hand,” one source said.

Gbajabiamila’s appearance at the ICPC on Monday comes alongside the filing of a N15bn defamation suit against Adeyemi before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.

The Chief of Staff is seeking N10bn in general damages, N5bn in aggravated damages and N200m in costs through his legal team led by Kemi Pinheiro, SAN.

The suit stems from allegations Adeyemi made at a press conference in June that Gbajabiamila demanded a 48 per cent kickback from the agency’s purported N27.3bn take-off grant, and that N400m had already been paid through a proxy while an additional N200m was required to secure presidential approvals.

Gbajabiamila denied ever meeting or communicating with Adeyemi or authorising anyone to act on his behalf.

The suit also sought a public retraction and apology published in five national newspapers and pinned on all of Adeyemi’s social media platforms for 30 days.

Ahead of his arrest last week in Osun State, Adeyemi had, in an interview with social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, claimed he personally lobbied Budget Office officials to secure the council’s inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

He said he first approached the office in December 2024 for the 2025 budget but was told the process had closed.

Officials, he claimed, later assured him the proposal would be considered for 2026.

“I went to that Budget Office for the 2025 budget. I submitted the letter and everything that I wanted, but I was told it was already late,” he said.

He denied paying any bribes, saying he merely promised employment opportunities.

He also claimed he was surprised to discover that the agency appeared in the 2026 budget with a N1.3bn allocation, saying he had already been arrested by the time the appropriation was passed.

Adeyemi also distanced Gbajabiamila from the budgetary allocation, saying he had never met the Chief of Staff in person.

“I never met Gbajabiamila physically before and after he was appointed. Dolapo Tanimola handled everything for me,” he said, referencing the same associate the police said died in a hotel fire in Abuja on October 22, 2025, five days before Adeyemi’s initial arrest.

The allegations have not been independently verified, and the Budget Office has not publicly responded.

Opposition divided

Meanwhile, the arrest of Adeyemi, executed by the Intelligence Response Team following a bench warrant issued by the Federal High Court after he failed to appear for his scheduled arraignment, has drawn reactions from opposition parties.

The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko, called for a public inquest, saying, “There ought to be a public inquest into the matter. We don’t want anything to be done in shrouded secrecy. This scandal is a national disgrace. There is no better way to describe it.”

The Social Democratic Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Rufus Aiyenigba, said the arrest was in order but added that Gbajabiamila should step aside.

He said “It is only fair to also ask the Chief of Staff to equally step aside. This is not the first time allegations are being levelled against him. There is a growing pattern that has become a source of concern.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Osa Director, alleged that Adeyemi’s arrest was being used to shield others.

Director argued, “The first condition the government has to fulfil is to ask Gbajabiamila to step aside. He cannot be a judge and accuser in his own case. Buhari did it by asking his SGF Babachir Lawal to step aside. What is the big deal about Gbajabiamila stepping aside?” (The PUNCH)

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