The detained self-proclaimed Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has demanded to testify before the parliamentary committee probing the organisation, denying claims that he single-handedly fabricated the disputed body.
Adeyemi, who remains in police custody, broke his silence on Sunday in a public statement issued by his legal defence team and signed by lawyer Festus Akhigbe.
His legal team insisted that any legislative report published without receiving Adeyemi’s direct testimony would violate his constitutional right to a fair hearing (audi alteram partem) and remain “fundamentally flawed”. Consequently, his lawyers formally requested that the ad hoc committee, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, grant administrative clearance for Adeyemi to appear and present his defence in person.
The demand follows recent testimony before the House of Representatives panel, where the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, admitted that her office failed to conduct sufficient due diligence before granting recruitment approvals tied to the council.
Rejecting narrative attempts to portray Adeyemi as an “isolated, mastermind impostor” acting without state backing, the defence team asserted that numerous ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) across the Federal Government formally processed, funded, and validated the council over an extended period.
According to the legal team, official records demonstrate widespread institutional involvement:
Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF): Processed documentation for the council and facilitated its office allocation inside the Federal Secretariat.
Accountant-General’s Office & Central Bank of Nigeria: Issued official budget codes, granted self-accounting status, opened operational accounts, and posted civil service staff to the body.
Office of the Head of the Civil Service: Formally approved the agency’s structural framework and issued recruitment waivers that permitted the hiring of 314 employees.
Security Agencies & EFCC: Leadership from primary security bodies attended council functions, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allocated property, charged a processing fee, and presented an award plaque to the council’s leadership.
Maintaining that it is an administrative impossibility for an unassisted individual to mislead every arm of government simultaneously, the statement accused authorities of using Adeyemi as “a scapegoat to cover up deep-seated institutional lapses, procedural breakdowns and internal approvals within the government structure.”
To establish accountability, Adeyemi’s lawyers called for a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder panel, including civil society members, legal experts, and independent observers, to audit the entire paper trail across all participating ministries and agencies.