The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) says it has identified five ministries, departments and agencies of government with procedural weaknesses which aided the creation of a fake agency of government, the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, disclosed this after presenting an interim report of its investigation to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and later briefing journalists.
The ICPC chairman identified the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), the Budget Office of the Federation, and the National information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) among agencies where procedural weaknesses were uncovered during the investigation.
The Commission said it also uncovered two additional fictitious government agencies allegedly created by the purported Director-General of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi.
Aliyu lamented that procedural and administrative lapses across several key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) created opportunities that were allegedly exploited by the promoter of the fictitious PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew.
The Commission, however, stressed that its findings do not suggest official complicity by the affected institutions but point to weaknesses in internal processes that require urgent reforms.
According to Aliyu, the institutional gaps enabled the suspect to operate the fictitious organisation and carry out the alleged illegal activities before the scheme was uncovered.
The commission recommended the prosecution of Adeyemi after investigations established that neither he nor the organisation had any legal backing from the Federal Government.
Aliyu said the report was submitted exactly 30 days after President Tinubu directed the anti-corruption agency to investigate the activities of the fake organisation.
According to him, investigations established that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government or any authorised government institution and that the so-called PFIPC, also referred to as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, was never established by any law, executive order or other valid instrument of government.
“The appointment letter presented by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew was completely forged, alongside similar documents used to perpetrate the illegal activities of the fake agency,” Aliyu said.
He added that the gazette the suspect relied on to legitimise the organisation was also forged and had never undergone the legal processes required for government publications.
The ICPC chairman said the suspect unlawfully appropriated the identity and office of the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), allegedly breaking into the office and using it as the fictitious organisation’s operational base.
He said investigators uncovered widespread impersonation, false representation and other illegal activities carried out in the name of the fake agency.
Aliyu further disclosed that the two additional fictitious agencies allegedly floated by the suspect are: the Foreign Capital and Wealth Investment. Promotion Agency (FCWIPA) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency/Public-Private Partnership (FIPA-PPP).
According to him, forged legislative instruments styled as enabling Acts were used to create the agencies and facilitate the opening of commercial bank accounts through which their activities were conducted.
(Ripples)