Accountant-General Alleges Letter Meant to Expose Fake Agency Was Hijacked as Head of Service Admits Due Diligence Failure

The Accountant-General of the federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, has alleged that a crucial letter which could have exposed the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) as a fake government agency was intercepted before it reached the State House.

Ogunjimi made the revelation while testifying before the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the activities of the fictitious agency on Tuesday.

Responding to questions from lawmakers, the Accountant-General explained that the letter, addressed to the Permanent Secretary, State House, was intended to trigger verification of the agency’s status because it was marked for the attention of a directorate that did not exist within the Presidency.

According to him, had the letter reached its intended recipient, the fraud would have been uncovered immediately.

“The letter was addressed to the Permanent Secretary, State House. If that directorate did not exist, once the letter reached the Permanent Secretary, the whole thing would have been unravelled,” he told the committee.

He disclosed that while an advance copy of the correspondence was successfully delivered to the Budget Office, the original letter never reached the State House.

Ogunjimi said preliminary findings indicated that the letter was instead delivered elsewhere, raising questions about how the critical document was diverted.

“The advance copy to the Budget Office was properly delivered, but it was only for information and not to be acted upon until the State House responded. The real problem was that the letter meant for the State House never got there,” he said.

The Accountant-General identified a schedule officer, Mr. Beldo, as the official handling the correspondence but said he could not confirm whether the officer personally delivered the letter or delegated the task because he was out of the country with the Accountant-General in Arusha, Tanzania, on December 2, 2024, after signing the document.

Lawmakers expressed concern that government agencies were creating opportunities for fraudsters to exploit official processes and blackmail the Presidency.

The committee chairman Rt. Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi noted that investigations showed the supposed directorate listed in the letter did not exist in the State House and accused the promoters of the PFIPC of relying on forged documents, including fake appointment letters purportedly signed by the Chief of Staff to the President.

He said the committee had examined multiple authentic correspondences from the Office of the Chief of Staff to various government institutions and found that the signatures and official procedures used by the promoters of the PFIPC did not match established State House protocols.

The hearing also featured testimony from the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who admitted that her office failed to conduct adequate due diligence before approving the controversial agency.

Walson-Jack accepted responsibility for granting establishment and recruitment approvals after relying on forged documents, including a fake Establishment Act and fraudulent appointment letters bearing forged State House logos and signatures.

She, however, clarified that her office never allocated office accommodation, deployed personnel, or approved an organisational structure for the self-proclaimed agency, adding that stronger verification mechanisms would be introduced to prevent similar incidents.