The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has submitted an interim report to President Bola Tinubu on its investigation into the alleged fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), recommending the prosecution of the council’s alleged Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi.
The anti-corruption agency also disclosed that its investigation uncovered two additional agencies allegedly created by Adeyemi—the FCT Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public Private Partnership (PIPA-PPP).
ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday after briefing President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, exactly 30 days after the President directed the commission to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the controversial council.
Aliyu said preliminary findings established that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government and that the purported appointment letter, gazette and other documents presented to legitimise the PFIPC were forged.
According to him, the investigation centres on allegations of corruption, forgery and fraudulent activities surrounding the operations of the disputed government entity.
Addressing journalists after the meeting, the ICPC chairman said investigators found significant gaps in government verification procedures and inter-agency oversight, which were allegedly exploited to create the false impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate Federal Government agency.
“Our interim report found weaknesses in verification, inter-agency oversight and government processes. We discovered that those weaknesses were exploited by Adeniyi, with some level of negligence.
“Our investigation also established that no Federal Government funds were approved or disbursed to the fake PFIPC/PEAC,” Aliyu said.
He further disclosed that investigators uncovered two additional agencies allegedly floated by Adeyemi—the FCT Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public Private Partnership (PIPA-PPP).
According to the ICPC chairman, Adeyemi also relied on forged legislative instruments presented as enabling Acts to facilitate the opening of bank accounts for the entities.
Aliyu said the commission has recommended Adeyemi’s prosecution, administrative sanctions against public officers whose negligence enabled the operation of the alleged fake agency, and far-reaching institutional reforms to strengthen internal control mechanisms across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“Our recommendation is that Mr. Adeniyi Adeyemi should be prosecuted. Administrative sanctions should also be imposed on public officers whose acts of omission and negligence facilitated the illegal operation of PFIPC/PEAC.
“There is also a need for institutional reforms so that the internal controls of MDAs can be strengthened to prevent this kind of illegal activity,” he stated.
He clarified that the report submitted to President Tinubu was only an interim report, noting that investigations remain ongoing to identify other individuals who may have collaborated with Adeyemi and to assemble a comprehensive criminal case.
“We have continued with the investigation of the activities of Mr. Adeniyi Adeyemi and his collaborators so that we can unravel more facts and file criminal charges that can stand the test of time before a court of competent jurisdiction,” Aliyu added.
The PFIPC controversy came to public attention after the Presidency disowned the council, declaring it a non-existent government agency despite its inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation of ₦1.3 billion.
The Federal Government has since instituted criminal proceedings against Adeyemi on allegations bordering on forgery, impersonation and fraudulent misrepresentation, while separate investigations by the House of Representatives and the ICPC continue into how the alleged fake agency operated within government institutions.
