The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged establishment and operations of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council has said it will interrogate the council’s purported Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, at an undisclosed location while he remains in police custody, saying the move is necessary to avoid jeopardising ongoing investigations by security and anti-graft agencies.
The committee was constituted to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged establishment and operations of the PFIPC following allegations of impersonation, forgery, financial impropriety and the unlawful use of government facilities and official insignia.
It is also examining how the purported council allegedly operated, the identities of those involved, the source of its funding and whether public institutions or officials aided its activities. It is expected to conclude its hearings this week before submitting its report to the House of Representatives for further legislative action.
The committee summoned the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Shehu Mohammed, to appear before it on Thursday over official Federal Government number plates allegedly used on vehicles linked to the purported council, amid concerns over how the plates were obtained.
The developments came after the Managing Director of Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, Gbenga Collins, told lawmakers that he paid N400m to Adeyemi after allegedly being promised a contract to renovate and furnish what was presented as the official residence of the agency’s Director-General.
Collins said he believed the PFIPC was a genuine Federal Government institution because Adeyemi operated from an office in the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, moved with security personnel and official vehicles bearing government number plates, and received visitors in what appeared to be an authentic government office.
Collins, a graduate of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, said he first met Adeyemi, whom he described as a fellow indigene of Ogbomoso, during a programme in their hometown in December 2024.
According to him, Adeyemi later invited him to Abuja in early 2025 to discuss a business opportunity.
“When I arrived at the airport, he sent an official car to come and pick me from the airport to his office at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja.
“When I got to his office, I met him there. He is a well-known man in Ogbomoso. I met a lot of people, very big dignitaries in his office, and I met a group of security officers guarding the office,” he said.
Collins said Adeyemi introduced himself as the Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
He told lawmakers that it was his first visit to Abuja and that the official setting gave him no reason to question Adeyemi’s claims.
“I saw police officers with him. That was my first time of coming to Abuja because I’m not familiar with Abuja very well. He sent his official car to pick me from the airport. It had a Federal Government registration number attached to the Lexus SUV,” he said.
Collins said Adeyemi later informed him that he had been allocated an official residence as Director-General and wanted Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited to handle its renovation and furnishing.
According to him, Adeyemi personally took him to inspect the property.
“He told me that he wanted to do refurbishment and renovation of the official house assigned to him as the DG of that agency and asked whether I would be able to handle the contract.
“He took me to the house to show me the property because I slept in Abuja. We went there the following day with his staff. We went with more than four, five or six vehicles with security. They opened the house and took us round, showing me what they wanted to do,” Collins added.
He said discussions continued until April 2025 when Adeyemi allegedly handed him a contract award letter, scope of work and an agreement between the purported council and his company.
Collins told the committee that he was informed he needed to pay N400m to demonstrate his company’s financial capacity and facilitate mobilisation for the contract.
“He gave me the contract award letter, the scope of work and the agreement with my company to execute the refurbishment project.
“I had to pay N400m for the facilitation of that project to show my strength that I would be able to handle the project. At the same time, he said it would fast-track the mobilisation for the contract,” he said.
The businessman disclosed that he raised the money from business associates who trusted him because he had personally visited Adeyemi’s office.
According to him, N380m was paid in four instalments between May and June 2025 into a Guaranty Trust Bank account belonging to World Entrepreneurs Limited, while the balance of N20m was paid on July 29, 2025, into an Access Bank account belonging to Sunshine Confectionery and Catering Services.
“When I was paying the money, I kept telling him that I collected the money from my colleagues who were doing business with me.
“I was the one who told them I had gone to this man’s office, so I believed it was going to be a great opportunity for us. That was why people started giving me the money,” Collins said.
He said Adeyemi repeatedly assured him that mobilisation for the project would commence in August 2025, but the promise never materialised.
“When I finished the payment, he said they were going to do the mobilisation by August,” he said.
Collins said subsequent explanations centred on security concerns before fresh assurances were given that payment would be made in November.
“I continued calling him. He kept managing me, telling me they were handling security issues and that they would pay in November,” he added.
The witness said he became suspicious after repeated attempts to reach Adeyemi failed and later consulted a lawyer in Abuja.
“My lawyer was the first person who told me that I had been scammed,” he told the committee.
He disclosed that his lawyer petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on November 13, 2025, and that he adopted the petition six days later.
“The petition was written on the 13th and I was invited to adopt it on the 19th,” he said.
He added that investigators later informed him that Adeyemi repeatedly failed to honour invitations from the EFCC, allegedly citing ill health through his lawyer.
“Since then, the EFCC has been trying to invite him. I think he has been sending his lawyer. According to the Investigating Police Officer handling the case, his lawyer kept saying he would appear.
“Since then, I have not heard anything further, but they are on top of the matter. The EFCC will be in the best position to handle the rest,” Collins said.
Appealing to lawmakers, the businessman said the incident had ruined his business and forced him to dispose of personal assets.
“I just want to beg the Chairman and the honourable members to help me talk to all the agencies involved because I have been frustrated, especially by those people who gave me the money. I have started selling my property. My business is not going well again,” he lamented.
He maintained that he acted in good faith because everything surrounding Adeyemi suggested he was dealing with a genuine government official.
“I did all this based on trust. When I went to his office, I met a lot of big dignitaries there, people waiting to see him and people he was discussing contracts with. I also did it because he is from my hometown,” Collins said.
During the hearing, committee chairman, Yusuf Gagdi, asked Collins whether the N400m amounted to a bribe paid to secure the contract.
The witness rejected the suggestion, insisting that the payment was presented to him as a prerequisite for facilitating and mobilising the contract.
Lawmakers also asked whether he complied with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act before accepting the purported contract.
Collins admitted that he did not follow any formal procurement process.
“What I just have to say is to beg the committee, or to implore the committee, to please, in all their capacity, whatever they can use to assist me with the police that are investigating him because I was invited to the Cybercrime office. He said the same thing, that he did not deny collecting the N400m,” he told lawmakers.
He also confirmed that the money was never converted to United States dollars before it was transferred.
Adeyemi grilling
Responding to questions over Adeyemi’s absence from the public hearing, Gagdi said the committee was bound by an existing court order under which the suspect remains in police custody.
“For the benefit of the general public, we are not refusing to invite Prince Adeniyi here. We have pronounced him to appear here and police have responded that he is in their custody based on the court order,” Gagdi clarified.
He stressed that the National Assembly would not undermine the authority of the courts.
“As an arm of government, we respect the principle of federalism and separation of powers. We respect the powers of the judiciary, the executive and we equally limit ourselves within our own powers.
“We do not have the power as the National Assembly to vacate an existing court order and say that somebody who is in the custody of the Nigerian Police should leave the police to appear before the National Assembly.”
The committee chairman, however, disclosed that lawmakers would question Adeyemi at an undisclosed date and location to avoid interfering with ongoing investigations by the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the police.
“We will not announce to the general public when we will interact with Prince Adeniyi. We will not because the ICPC are investigating this matter. EFCC are investigating this matter. Part of this matter is before the court of law and many other agencies.
“To say that we will put the suspect under direct camera and interact with him the way we are interacting with everyone here will definitely undermine the ongoing investigation by the EFCC and ICPC.
“In view of that, we are meeting him on an unannounced date and at an unannounced time. We will meet him with a camera that will exonerate members of the committee on our interaction with him.
“Just as you came here with your lawyer, we will inform the police whenever we are going to meet him and, as directed by the court, it will be in the presence of his lawyers,” he added
Gagdi said the panel’s priority was to obtain necessary clarifications from Adeyemi rather than insist on his appearance at a public hearing.
“Whether he appears before this committee or this committee appears before him, the most important thing is to have an interaction with him to get some things clarified. And we are going to do just that,” he said.
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