Prince Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, the embattled Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), has appealed to the House of Representatives to allow him appear before its investigative panel, insisting he is being unfairly portrayed as the sole architect of the alleged scandal.
Adeyemi, who is currently in custody, made the request through his legal team, led by Festus Akhigbe, arguing that any report produced without hearing his side of the story would be incomplete and violate his constitutional right to fair hearing.
His appeal follows last week’s hearing, where the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun’s successor, Olatunji Disu, informed lawmakers that Adeyemi could not be produced before the committee because he was being held under a court order and required judicial clearance. (Vanguard News)
The legal team rejected claims that Adeyemi single-handedly created a fictitious government agency, describing such allegations as implausible. They argued that the PFIPC’s operations involved several government institutions, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), and the Budget Office. (Vanguard News)
According to the lawyers, these institutions processed official documents, approved administrative structures, facilitated office allocations, opened operational accounts, and oversaw the inclusion of a ₦1.302 billion allocation for the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
They also claimed that several security agencies and anti-corruption bodies engaged with the council, arguing that it would have been impossible for one individual to deceive multiple federal institutions without institutional failures or internal approvals. (Vanguard News)
The legal team maintained that Adeyemi was being used as a scapegoat to conceal broader administrative lapses within the federal system.
They urged the House Ad-hoc Committee, chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, to grant the necessary administrative clearance for Adeyemi to testify, insisting that a credible investigation must hear directly from the principal figure at the centre of the controversy. (Vanguard News)
The PFIPC controversy erupted after the Presidency disowned the council, stating it was never established through any law, executive order, or presidential directive despite operating publicly as a federal agency and receiving a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 national budget. Investigations by the House of Representatives into the circumstances surrounding the agency’s existence and funding are ongoing. (Vanguard News)
