By George Ozalla
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs Esther Didi Walson-Jack, has admitted that her office approved establishment and recruitment requests for the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) based on documents that were later discovered to be fake.
Walson-Jack made the disclosure on Wednesday while appearing before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged creation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The committee is examining how the purported agency obtained government recognition, administrative approvals, recruitment waiver and other official processes despite allegations that documents used to support its establishment were forged.
The Head of Service told lawmakers that the alleged Establishment Act presented by officials of the organisation was not an authentic document.
She explained that her office relied on documents submitted during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence exercise, where representatives of the organisation presented themselves as officials of a newly established federal agency.
According to her, the documents presented included an Establishment Act, a letter appointing a Director-General and other papers required under civil service procedures before an agency can receive establishment approval and recruitment waiver.
“I requested to see the documents myself and I saw that the Establishment Act was not really an authentic Act. I have almost 30 years of legal practice experience and immediately I saw it, I knew it was not,” she told the committee.
Walson-Jack admitted that her office approved the requests based on the documents presented but acknowledged that more checks should have been carried out before the approvals were granted.
“We now, having seen all the facts and observed all the documents, concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in the discharge of the duties of the office in issuing an authorised establishment and a recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC,” she said.
She also raised concerns over the appointment letter allegedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, saying there were differences between the signature on the disputed letter and those on genuine official correspondence.
“I’m not a forensic expert, but I can clearly see that the signatures are not the same,” she stated.
The committee also questioned officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over the issuance of an administrative code to the purported agency.
A former Director, Consolidation Account, and Director, Federal Projects, Mr Joshua Patmi Luka, told lawmakers that his office received what appeared to be an official request from the State House for an administrative code for the agency.
Luka explained that his office followed due process by forwarding the request to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and not directly to the purported agency.
“As part of our due diligence, what we did was to convey the administrative code to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and not to the so-called agency. The idea was that if it was not genuine, the whole thing would be unravelled,” Luka said.
However, the committee raised concerns after evidence showed that the letter did not get to the Permanent Secretary but was instead collected by the individual presenting himself as the Director-General of the alleged fake agency.
The Chairman of the committee, Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, said the investigation revealed that the “Directorate of Administration and Support Services” referenced in the correspondence did not exist within the State House.
“There is no Directorate of Administration and Support Services in the State House. That office does not exist,” Gagdi said.
He questioned why the letter meant for the Permanent Secretary was released to an individual who was not authorised to receive it.
“You allowed the fraudulent DG to come and pick the letter from your office instead of allowing someone from the Permanent Secretary’s office to receive it. If the letter had reached the Permanent Secretary, the fraud would have been unravelled immediately,” Gagdi said.
Responding, Luka maintained that the incident was not a failure of the institution but the action of the officer responsible for dispatching the correspondence.
The lawmakers said the investigation had uncovered the use of alleged fake appointment letters, forged documents and non-existent offices to secure government approvals for the purported agency.
The committee also received an update from the Nigeria Police Force on the failure to produce Prince Adeyemi, the alleged Director-General of PFIPC, before the panel.
Representing the Inspector-General of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police at the National Cybercrime Centre, Olufemi Akinola, said Adeyemi could not appear before the committee because he remained in custody under a subsisting court order.
He explained that a fresh order from a competent court would be required before the suspect could be produced before the lawmakers.
The police assured the committee of their continued cooperation as the investigation continues.
The committee is expected to conclude its work next week and submit its report with recommendations on the alleged fake agency and the processes through which it obtained government approvals.
