Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, PFIPC, has insisted that his lawyers and journalists must be present before he appears before the House of Representatives committee investigating the controversy surrounding the council.
The House Ad Hoc Committee, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, is investigating how the PFIPC allegedly secured office space within the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja and obtained more than N1.32 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act despite questions over its legal status.
Adeyemi, who is currently in police custody, had previously declined to answer questions from members of the committee when his lawyers were not present.
His lawyer, Ademola Oyedokun, has also urged the committee to conduct the questioning publicly, arguing that other individuals connected to the controversy had been allowed to give their accounts openly.
According to the lawyer, Adeyemi is willing to appear before the committee and respond to questions concerning the PFIPC, provided the session is held publicly and his legal representatives are allowed to attend.
The committee had earlier attempted to question Adeyemi while he was in police custody but later rescheduled the interrogation after he declined to participate.
The venue for his appearance had yet to be decided as of Sunday, according to a source familiar with the committee’s proceedings.
The development comes as the Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, called for a broader investigation into the PFIPC controversy.
CUPP spokesperson, Agu Bryan, questioned how an organisation alleged to have no legal foundation was able to secure government accommodation, participate in official activities and receive a budgetary allocation.
Bryan also criticised the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s handling of the matter, arguing that the investigation should establish whether other officials or institutions enabled the PFIPC’s operations.
The House committee is expected to question Adeyemi as it seeks to determine how the PFIPC was established, how it gained access to government structures and how funds were allocated to it.
Adeyemi’s testimony could form a significant part of the committee’s efforts to establish the full circumstances surrounding the controversy.
