The Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, has told the House of Representatives that a forged letter purportedly from the State House was used to secure government recognition for a non-existent agency.
Ogunjimi made the disclosure on Monday while appearing before the House Ad Hoc Committee investigating the activities and establishment of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
He said his office received what appeared to be an official request from the Presidency in November 2024, seeking the creation of an administrative code for the purported agency.
According to the Accountant-General, the request was processed in accordance with established procedures, leading to the creation of the code and subsequent communication of the approval to the State House, with the Auditor-General for the Federation also copied.
Ogunjimi said, “A letter dated November 7, 2024, bearing a State House reference number, requested the creation of an administrative code for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council to facilitate budgeting, accounting and financial reporting.”
He explained that the approval subsequently opened the way for further requests from the purported organisation, including applications relating to self-accounting status, staff deployment, and the opening of Treasury Single Account and domiciliary accounts.
However, he stressed that no public funds were eventually disbursed to the organisation.
“It is important to note that no funds were released under salaries, overhead, capital, or any form of intervention or special allocation to the council,” Ogunjimi said.
The Accountant-General also disclosed that the purported agency had sought an establishment grant of £27.4bn, but the request was turned down because there was no budgetary provision for it.
He added that although the Central Bank of Nigeria reportedly opened two domiciliary accounts for the organisation, the accounts were never activated because the necessary regulatory requirements were not fulfilled.
The committee expressed concern over how the organisation was able to pass through various government processes without being detected.
In response, Ogunjimi made a significant revelation, stating that the correspondence that triggered the administrative process had not actually originated from the Presidency.
He said, “The letter that was received by the Treasury was respectfully addressed as coming from the State House. That letter was never issued by the State House.”
The disclosure raised further questions about the alleged use of forged government documents to establish and operate the purported agency.
The committee also questioned the Accountant-General about two civil servants who had originally been posted to the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President but were allegedly absorbed into the purported council.
Ogunjimi said his office was not formally informed that the officers had been transferred to another organisation.
“It was never assumed or written to us that those two officers were being taken over. The staff also never reported to the office to say that another council had taken over the office and the name had changed,” he said.
He added, “As far as I was concerned, we were dealing with a new agency, not the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser.”
According to him, the Treasury later received a request for five additional personnel to be deployed to the organisation but approved only three, based on its assessment of the agency’s staffing requirements.
Ogunjimi said it was only after the controversy emerged that he discovered that two members of staff under his office had already been working with or absorbed by the purported agency.
“It was when all this matter came to light that I got to know that two of our staff were actually working or being absorbed by the agency. We never knew. We believed, based on the records available to us, that those officers were still with the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser,” he said.
The House investigation is examining allegations that forged presidential approvals, counterfeit State House correspondence and purported fake laws were used to establish and operate the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
The Nigeria Police Force has also informed the committee that criminal charges bordering on conspiracy and fraud have been filed against the prime suspect, Adeyemi Adeniyi, at the Federal High Court.
The committee on Monday directed the Inspector-General of Police to produce Adeniyi before it by noon on Wednesday to answer questions concerning the alleged forgery of official government documents and the activities of the purported agency.
The lawmakers are expected to conclude the probe and make recommendations on possible administrative, legislative and criminal actions against individuals found culpable.
