The deputy speaker said he was among those deceived by the controversial boss of the ‘fake’ Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC)
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, on Wednesday disclosed that he was among those deceived by the self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi.
This was as the House resolved to investigate how the purported agency operated within government circles and found its way into the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Kalu made the revelation during plenary while contributing to a motion sponsored by Rep. Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau), which called for a comprehensive investigation into the activities of the alleged council and the circumstances surrounding its inclusion in the federal budget despite claims by the presidency that no such agency exists.
Describing the development as embarrassing, the deputy speaker said the incident exposed serious loopholes in the nation’s public institutions and underscored the need for a thorough legislative inquiry.
“I was a victim,” Kalu told lawmakers. “If you watched the news, you would have seen my picture all over the media standing side by side with the purported Director-General of this organisation.”
He explained that on May 2, 2025, his office received a letter bearing the presidency’s insignia and purportedly issued by the “Office of the Director-General, Presidential Economic Advisory Council” and the “Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.”
According to him, the letterhead also contained an address at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Central Business District, Abuja, as well as an official-looking government website.
“When I saw the letter, some of the information looked credible while some did not. I directed my staff to verify whether the organisation existed at the address indicated,” Kalu said.
“They came back confirming that the organisation was operating from the stated office, and based on that verification, I approved the meeting.”
The deputy speaker said the organisation had requested to discuss issues relating to the ongoing constitutional amendment process and legislative reforms aimed at improving Nigeria’s investment climate.
However, he said the meeting took an unexpected turn.
“When they came, they did not discuss the issues contained in their letter. They were more interested in taking photographs,” he said.
“I looked at the quality of the people before me and began to question whether they were genuinely acting on the authority of the president.”
Kalu said the experience demonstrated that official-looking documents and government addresses could no longer be accepted at face value.
“It shows that a beautiful letterhead bearing the presidency is no longer sufficient proof that an agency is legitimate. It also shows that operating from the Federal Secretariat does not necessarily mean an organisation is lawfully established,” he said.
He urged lawmakers to support the investigation to uncover how the purported agency secured office space within the Federal Secretariat, engaged senior government officials and was allocated funds in the 2026 budget.
“We need to investigate how they got into the budget and how they gained access to various government officials. It is our constitutional responsibility under Sections 88 and 89 to get to the root of this matter,” he added.
Gagdi questions N1.3bn budget allocation
Earlier, while moving the motion, Gagdi said the alleged council operated from the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja and engaged various government institutions even though the Federal Government had declared that no such agency was lawfully established.
“The House notes that between November 2024 and October 2025, an entity styling itself as the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council operated from the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase Three, Abuja, and interacted with various organs of government, although the Federal Government has since declared that no such agency was ever lawfully established.”
He added that allegations of forgery and impersonation involving the entity were already the subject of ongoing investigations and criminal proceedings before the Federal High Court.
Gagdi also questioned the legal basis upon which the alleged council relied.
“The entity relies on documents purporting to be an enactment codified as Chapter N2117, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, whereas the records of the National Assembly disclose no bill for the establishment of any such council.”
“The nearest designation to this chapter is Chapter N117, being the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, the very statute whose mandate the entity purported to duplicate, such that the falsification of the purported instrument is apparent on the face of public statutory records.”
The Plateau lawmaker said reports that the purported agency received a budgetary allocation exceeding N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act raised fundamental questions about the integrity of Nigeria’s budget process.
“Reports indicate that the purported provision in excess of N1.3 billion attributable to the entity found its way into the 2026 appropriation framework, raising fundamental questions… as to how a body without any authentic instrument of establishment could enter a federal budget.”
He warned that the incident suggested wider systemic weaknesses.
“The ease with which a single unestablished entity processed through official processes suggests a systemic vulnerability rather than an isolated lapse, and it cannot be excluded that other fictitious entities are equally reflected in past or current budget frameworks.”
Gagdi urged the House to constitute an ad hoc committee to trace how the alleged allocation entered the 2026 budget, identify the stage at which it was introduced, and summon the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and the Director-General of the Budget Office to explain the verification process used before admitting new entities into the federal budget.
He also proposed that all ministries, departments and agencies captured in the 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Acts be verified against their enabling laws and that the Accountant-General of the Federation confirm that no funds had been released to the alleged council pending the outcome of investigations.
The House adopted the motion and resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the matter and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
