The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered how the embattled Director-General of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, allegedly sourced ₦600 million from private individuals and companies to run the controversial organisation and finance its activities.
Naija News reports that the anti-graft agency said Adeyemi told investigators he secured ₦400 million from Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited for personal engagements and to run his office, while another ₦200 million was obtained from Sparrow Nigeria Limited to fund the World Investment Summit promoted by the purported agency.
The findings were contained in the ICPC’s interim investigation report submitted to President Bola Tinubu on August 6 and obtained by Premium Times.
The development has provided further insight into the operations of the organisation, which the Federal Government has declared was never legally created and whose purported director-general was not appointed by the government.
According to the ICPC report, Adeyemi claimed that the ₦400 million he received from Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, owned by Oyekunle Oluwagbemiga, was a loan meant to cater for personal expenses and the activities of his office.
However, Oluwagbemiga subsequently gave a different account when he appeared before the House of Representatives committee probing the PFIPC controversy.
He told the lawmakers that the ₦400 million payment was made after Adeyemi presented himself as a legitimate Federal Government official and offered his company a contract to renovate and furnish an official residence.
Oluwagbemiga said Adeyemi’s occupation of an office at the Federal Secretariat, the use of vehicles with government number plates and the presence of security personnel and people he considered dignitaries convinced him that he was dealing with a genuine government representative.
According to him, Adeyemi also presented a contract award letter, a scope of work and an agreement relating to the proposed renovation project before demanding the ₦400 million.
The conflicting accounts have now raised questions about the actual purpose of the money, with the ICPC recommending further scrutiny of the transaction and accounts linked to Adeyemi.
Adeyemi also reportedly told investigators that he obtained ₦200 million from Sparrow Nigeria Limited, owned by Alhaji Habib, to organise the World Investment Summit.
The summit was one of the major initiatives associated with Adeyemi while he was presenting himself as the head of PFIPC.
He had promoted the 2026 edition as a major investment gathering and reportedly claimed that it could attract up to N5tn in foreign direct investment.
The event was preceded by a pre-summit dinner attended by individuals from the diplomatic community, development organisations and the private sector.
However, websites linked to the summit were later taken down.
The ICPC’s finding that private funds were allegedly deployed to finance the summit has further raised questions about the scale of Adeyemi’s activities while operating under the identity of an organisation the government now says did not legally exist.
The anti-corruption commission also discovered that World Entrepreneurship University Limited, a company registered by Adeyemi, was involved in financial transactions connected to his activities.
The ICPC consequently recommended that the bank accounts associated with Adeyemi and the various sources of funds he claimed to have received as loans should be subjected to further analysis.
The commission said the examination would help investigators establish how the funds moved and were used.
The investigation also revealed how the purported PFIPC allegedly gained access to various government institutions despite having no recognised legal foundation.
The ICPC established that the organisation was not created by an Act of the National Assembly, executive order or any other valid instrument of government.
Despite this, the organisation occupied an office on the second floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja, with civil servants reportedly deployed to work there.
It also communicated with ministries, departments and agencies, sought government approvals, and attempted to access public financial systems.
One of the major breakthroughs in the investigation was the discovery that the purported agency gained access to accounts at the Central Bank of Nigeria after the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation acted on a request attributed to Adeyemi.
The CBN subsequently confirmed the creation of dollar and pound accounts associated with the organisation.
The ICPC also discovered that the names of some prominent Nigerians appeared in documents and invitations connected to the World Investment Summit without their authorisation.
Among those affected was the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Nentawe Yilwatda.
The commission said Yilwatda and other individuals whose names appeared in summit-related materials neither authorised their inclusion nor participated in the purported event.
Similarly, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, said he had unknowingly interacted with individuals linked to PFIPC and appeared in photographs with Adeyemi.
Kalu described himself as a victim of what he considered a sophisticated impersonation scheme.
While identifying Adeyemi as the principal person behind the presentation and operation of PFIPC as a Federal Government institution, the ICPC also pointed to weaknesses within government institutions that enabled the scheme to gain traction.
The commission said several government agencies relied on documents and representations presented by Adeyemi instead of independently verifying whether the organisation had a valid legal basis.
It identified weaknesses in the authentication of official documents, allocation of government offices, approval of manpower and coordination among government agencies as some of the loopholes exploited.
The ICPC also cited negligence, petty corruption and what it described as undue deference to the State House as factors that contributed to the purported agency’s access to government systems.
These lapses, according to the commission, eventually contributed to the inclusion of PFIPC in the 2026 national budget.
The 2026 Appropriation Act reportedly contained a N1.3bn provision for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council under the Presidency.
Adeyemi had, however, denied preparing or defending the budget.
The ICPC has recommended prosecuting Adeyemi over alleged forgery, impersonation, false representation, and related offences.
The commission also recommended further investigation into financial transactions involving him, including the loans he claimed to have obtained from private entities.
Adeyemi has denied the allegations and maintained that he would establish his innocence in court.
