The House of Representatives has intensified its investigation into the activities of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), raising serious concerns over documents that allegedly presented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and several senior government officials as members of the organisation’s governing board.
The matter came under scrutiny during an investigative hearing held on Thursday by the House Ad Hoc Committee probing the operations of the council. Lawmakers questioned the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed, over the issuance of seven official vehicle number plates to the organisation despite what they described as questionable documentation.
Leading the hearing, the committee chairman, Yusuf Gagdi, said the documents submitted by the PFIPC should have prompted greater caution from the FRSC before any official approval was granted.
He argued that the agency ought to have carried out broader verification after seeing the names of some of Nigeria’s highest-ranking public officials listed as members of the council’s governing board.
According to Gagdi, the purported board included President Tinubu alongside the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; the Attorney-General of the Federation; and several ministers overseeing key portfolios, including finance, aviation, agriculture and food security, interior, budget and national planning, marine and blue economy, police affairs, transport, works and power.
The committee chairman expressed surprise that such an extraordinary list did not immediately trigger additional verification by the FRSC.
In his view, the agency should have contacted the Presidency or other relevant government institutions to confirm whether the council had official recognition before issuing government number plates.
Gagdi also questioned the acceptance of documents that allegedly lacked recognised government security features.
He maintained that the unusual nature of the paperwork should have raised concerns during the review process instead of being accepted at face value.
He, however, clarified that the purpose of the investigation was not to assign blame to any institution but to identify weaknesses within government systems and recommend measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
According to him, public institutions must strengthen their verification processes to ensure that individuals or organisations cannot exploit administrative loopholes to obtain government privileges or official recognition without proper authorisation.
Responding to lawmakers, FRSC Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed defended the agency’s conduct, insisting that officials complied with existing procedures before approving the request.
He explained that the PFIPC initially submitted an application dated April 4, 2025, requesting official number plates for its vehicles.
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A reminder was later received on April 11. Both letters, he noted, were signed by Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, who represented himself as an authorised official of the organisation.
Mohammed said the application package contained documents purporting to establish the council, outlining its objectives, legal mandate, governing structure and operational responsibilities.
It also included details of the vehicles for which the official number plates were requested.
Beyond reviewing the submitted documents, the Corps Marshal disclosed that FRSC personnel carried out additional checks before granting approval.
According to him, officers visited the council’s office located within the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja and also reviewed its official website.
He explained that the website operated on what appeared to be a federal government domain, while the organisation’s office was situated within a government facility.
Combined with the documents presented by the applicants, these factors created the impression that the PFIPC was an authentic government establishment.
Mohammed further stated that the FRSC completed the routine verification of the vehicles’ chassis numbers before issuing the official number plates, adding that every step taken by the agency followed its standard operating procedures.
The Corps Marshal admitted, however, that the agency later discovered that the organisation was not an authorised federal government body. He described the discovery as unexpected and said immediate steps were taken to limit the consequences.
According to him, the FRSC has already begun recovering all official number plates issued to the organisation while reviewing its internal processes to ensure stricter verification of similar applications in the future.
He assured lawmakers that lessons had been learned from the incident and that additional safeguards would be introduced to reduce the possibility of similar occurrences.
The controversy surrounding the PFIPC gained wider attention following an investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The anti-corruption agency recommended the prosecution of Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, who allegedly operated the organisation and presented it as a legitimate federal government institution.
During the investigation, Adeniyi reportedly claimed that his appointment letter had been issued by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
However, Gbajabiamila publicly rejected the claim and denied issuing any such appointment or authorising the establishment of the council.
The ICPC’s findings also indicated that although the Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria were cleared of any wrongdoing, the investigation uncovered weaknesses in administrative and verification procedures across several government institutions.
Among the offices identified were the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Budget Office and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), alongside other ministries, departments and agencies.
The commission advised affected institutions to strengthen internal controls, improve document verification procedures and enhance inter-agency communication to prevent unauthorised organisations from obtaining government recognition or benefits through administrative lapses.
The House committee is expected to continue its investigation as lawmakers seek to establish how the organisation obtained official recognition from multiple public institutions despite concerns about its legitimacy.
The outcome of the probe could lead to recommendations aimed at tightening government verification systems and improving accountability across public agencies.
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