THE House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged establishment and operations of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has announced plans to interrogate the council’s purported Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, at an undisclosed location while he remains in police custody.
The committee said the decision was necessary to avoid jeopardising ongoing investigations by security and anti-graft agencies handling the matter.
News Point Nigeria reports that the committee was constituted to investigate allegations surrounding the purported council, including impersonation, forgery, financial impropriety and the alleged unlawful use of government facilities and official insignia.
The panel is also examining how the alleged council operated, the identities of individuals involved, its source of funding and whether any government institutions or officials aided its activities.
The committee is expected to conclude its hearings this week before submitting its report to the House of Representatives for further legislative action.
The development followed a revelation by the Managing Director of Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, Gbenga Collins, who told lawmakers that he paid N400 million 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 told the committee that he believed the PFIPC was a legitimate Federal Government institution because Adeyemi operated from an office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, moved with security personnel and vehicles bearing government registration numbers, and received visitors in what appeared to be an official government setting.
The businessman, a graduate of the 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,” Collins said.
He told lawmakers that Adeyemi introduced himself as the Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
Collins said it was his first time visiting Abuja and that the environment surrounding Adeyemi gave him no reason to doubt his 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.
According to Collins, Adeyemi later informed him that he had been allocated an official residence as Director-General and wanted his company to handle the renovation and furnishing of 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,” he added.
Collins said discussions continued until April 2025, when Adeyemi allegedly presented him with a contract award letter, scope of work and an agreement between the purported council and his company.
He said he was informed that he needed to pay N400 million to demonstrate his company’s financial capacity and facilitate mobilisation for the project.
“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,” Collins stated.
The businessman said he raised the money from business associates who trusted him because he had personally visited Adeyemi’s office and believed the deal was genuine.
According to him, N380 million was paid in four instalments between May and June 2025 into a Guaranty Trust Bank account belonging to World Entrepreneurs Limited, while the remaining N20 million 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,” he said.
Collins said Adeyemi repeatedly assured him that mobilisation for the project would commence in August 2025, but the promise was never fulfilled.
“When I finished the payment, he said they were going to do the mobilisation by August,” he said.
He added that Adeyemi later attributed the delay to security concerns and gave fresh assurances 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,” Collins said.
The witness said he became suspicious after several attempts to reach Adeyemi failed, prompting him to consult a lawyer in Abuja.
“My lawyer was the first person who told me that I had been scammed,” he told lawmakers.
He disclosed that his lawyer petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) 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.
Collins said EFCC investigators later informed him that Adeyemi repeatedly failed to honour invitations from the agency, allegedly citing ill health through his lawyer.
He appealed to lawmakers to assist him in recovering his money, saying the incident had negatively affected his business and forced him to sell 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.
The businessman 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 whether the N400 million payment amounted to a bribe to secure the contract.
Collins rejected the suggestion, insisting that the money was presented as a requirement for facilitating and mobilising the project.
Lawmakers also questioned whether he followed the provisions of the Public Procurement Act before accepting the purported contract.
Collins admitted that he did not undergo any formal procurement process.
He also confirmed that the money was not converted into United States dollars before it was transferred.
Meanwhile, the committee chairman explained that Adeyemi could not appear at the public hearing because he remained in police custody under an existing court order.
“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 said.
He stressed that the National Assembly would not undermine the authority of the judiciary.
“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,” he stated.
Gagdi disclosed that the committee would meet Adeyemi privately at an undisclosed date and location to prevent interference with investigations being conducted by the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), 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,” he said.
He added that conducting a public session with Adeyemi could undermine ongoing investigations.
“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,” Gagdi added.
The lawmaker said the committee’s priority was to obtain clarification 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.
The committee also summoned the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Shehu Mohammed, to appear before it on Thursday over the alleged use of official Federal Government number plates on vehicles linked to the purported council, amid concerns over how the plates were obtained.