Reps turn heat on NSA Ribadu: Explain why ‘fake’ PFIPC kept operating after confirming it didn’t exist

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the phantom Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council has summoned the National Security Adviser and Minister of Foreign Affairs to explain how the illegal agency continued operating and engaging foreign diplomats even after the NSA’s own office confirmed it had no legal existence.

Nigeria’s phantom agency scandal has taken a sharper turn — and now the National Security Adviser has some serious explaining to do.

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, PFIPC, has summoned the NSA and the Minister of Foreign Affairs after revelations that the illegal agency continued conducting diplomatic engagements even after being formally flagged as non-existent, as reported by Vanguard.

The trigger was a memorandum submitted by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dunoma Umar Ahmed, who told the panel the ministry received three separate collaboration requests from Prince Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi — presenting himself as Director-General of the PEAC/PFIPC — on June 26, 2025, August 5, 2025, and June 5, 2026. All three were ignored after due diligence exposed irregularities.

The ministry subsequently wrote to the NSA’s office on October 16, 2025, seeking clarification. The NSA responded on November 26, 2025, confirming that “Prince Matthew Adeyemi is unknown to any office of the Federal Government.” Case closed — or so it seemed.

The committee’s central question is what happened next. The NSA knew. Yet the phantom council kept operating, kept engaging foreign nationals and kept conducting diplomatic functions that legally belong to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Committee member Abubakar Hassan Fulata pressed the ministry on why no direct communication was sent to Adeyemi shutting down further interactions. The committee chairman was even blunter in framing the NSA’s accountability gap.

“What has the Office of the NSA done as a security office after discovering that the agency does not exist? I think they should have taken action, so they should tell us the action they have taken,” he stated.

The chairman did not mince words on the broader implications. “Somebody will outsmart agencies, form a fake agency, get documents and approvals from agencies, conduct diplomatic engagements with foreign nationals. I think this is a big insult on the Nigerian people.”

The NSA’s office and the Foreign Affairs Minister are expected to appear before the committee. Several MDAs have also been issued a final ultimatum to appear the following day.