The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has refuted claims that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, was arrested over the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council scandal, stating that he merely honoured an invitation from investigators.
According to The Punch, the clarification was contained in a statement posted on the commission’s Facebook page on Tuesday after reports emerged that Gbajabiamila visited the ICPC headquarters in Abuja on Monday as part of the ongoing probe into the purported PFIPC.
According to the anti-corruption agency, the President’s Chief of Staff was invited for questioning and was never placed under arrest.
“The Commission confirms that the Chief of Staff’s visit was on the invitation of its investigators and consistent with its ongoing efforts to gather all relevant facts in the matter.
“He was not arrested; he simply willingly honoured an invitation,” the statement read.
The ICPC disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had ordered an investigation into the activities of the alleged PFIPC, which reportedly operated from the Federal Secretariat in Abuja for about two years under Adeniyi Adeyemi, who allegedly presented himself as the council’s Director-General.
It said Gbajabiamila arrived at the commission’s headquarters on Monday afternoon, responded to investigators’ questions and departed after making his statement.
“The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) confirms that the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, was at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday, 20th July, 2026, to give a statement in connection with the ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC),” the statement said.
The commission added that its investigation into the alleged fake agency was still ongoing and promised to provide further updates when necessary.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that Gbajabiamila appeared before the ICPC after President Tinubu directed the commission to unravel the circumstances surrounding the PFIPC, an organisation the Presidency has since disowned as fraudulent.
The scandal has also attracted the attention of the House of Representatives, which has launched a parallel investigation. Several government agencies and public officials have appeared before lawmakers to explain how the purported council allegedly obtained office accommodation, budgetary allocations and other official approvals.
During a public hearing held at the National Assembly on Monday, the Central Bank of Nigeria admitted that it opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the alleged agency.
Testifying before the House Ad-hoc Committee investigating the matter, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, the Director of the CBN Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, revealed that the accounts—one in US dollars and the other in British pounds sterling, were opened after the apex bank received a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
“On July 30, 2025, we received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General. We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.
He further explained the bank’s account-opening procedure, saying, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.
“The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.
He, however, stated that although the accounts were successfully opened, they were never activated because no one came forward to complete the activation process.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi has been arrested and is currently facing prosecution in connection with the alleged fraud.
