Official documents exclusively obtained by Saturday PUNCH reveal that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation formally received, acknowledged and forwarded correspondence from the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council to the EFCC in November 2024 — months before the Presidency publicly declared the agency non-existent.
The Presidency says the PFIPC never existed. The SGF’s office apparently didn’t get that memo — in 2024.
Documents exclusively obtained by Saturday PUNCH show that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation formally received, processed and acted upon official correspondence submitted under the PFIPC’s name months before the Presidency publicly disowned it.
A November 21, 2024, letter signed by Permanent Secretary Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri on behalf of the SGF forwarded a request from PFIPC Director-General Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi — Reference No. SH/DG/PFIPC/RQ/107, dated November 7, 2024 — to the EFCC, seeking office accommodation from recovered Federal Government properties. Registry stamps confirm the SGF’s office received the letter on November 12 before forwarding it nine days later.
The forwarding letter stated: “I am directed to forward the attached copies of letters requesting allocation of office accommodation from the recovered Federal Government landed properties for further necessary action.”
The revelations compound an already extensive paper trail — the PFIPC appears in Nigeria’s 2026 Appropriation Act with a N1.3 billion budget allocation, received a government waiver to recruit 300 staff and had treasury officers formally redeployed to it by the Accountant-General’s office.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has listed Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila and 10 others as prosecution witnesses in the criminal case against Adeyemi, who faces eight counts of conspiracy, forgery and impersonation before a Federal High Court in Abuja. Two co-defendants identified as Femi and Anu remain at large.
Count Two of the charge alleges Adeyemi forged a presidential appointment letter “signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.” Count Five alleges he falsely presented himself as the PFIPC’s Director-General.
Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga maintained on Wednesday that the PFIPC remains fictitious. The SGF’s 2024 correspondence has not been publicly addressed by the Presidency.
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