Fresh divisions have emerged within the House of Representatives committee investigating the operations of an alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, threatening to delay the panel’s final report.
The 12-member ad hoc committee, chaired by the Plateau State lawmaker Yusuf Gagdi, has been sitting for more than a month and is now working on the final stages of its report ahead of its submission to the House when plenary resumes.
The committee has questioned several senior government officials, including the head of the civil service, Didi Walson-Jack; the Central Bank of Nigeria’s director of banking services, Hamisu Abdullahi; the director-general of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu; and Joshua Luka, head of the Federal Projects Financial Management Department in the office of the accountant-general.
The officials were asked to explain their roles in processes through which the alleged agency appeared to acquire recognition within government.
The institutions told the committee that they had acted on information and documents supplied by Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as the organisation’s director-general.
Adeyemi previously alleged that he paid N400m to Femi Gbajabiamila, President Bola Tinubu’s chief of staff, through a proxy to secure his appointment as director-general. He later clarified that he had never met Gbajabiamila personally.
The Presidency and Gbajabiamila rejected the allegation, describing the purported agency as fictitious and accusing Adeyemi of forging official documents in furtherance of alleged unlawful activity.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission separately investigated the controversy, cleared the Presidency of wrongdoing and recommended that Adeyemi be prosecuted.
Gagdi indicated about two weeks ago that the committee would hold a press conference after questioning the government institutions involved. No briefing has yet taken place.
The committee had also planned to question Adeyemi at an undisclosed location. That arrangement reportedly became contentious after Adeyemi insisted that he should give evidence publicly, with journalists and his lawyers present.
A further point of disagreement is whether Gbajabiamila should be formally invited to appear before the committee and answer the allegation in which his name was prominently mentioned.
A source familiar with the proceedings said the dispute was contributing to the delay in completing the report.
“Some of the committee members feel there should have been a presentation from Gbajabiamila since Adeyemi is alleged to have mentioned his name in the saga,” the source said.
“Writing a report without listening to him may attract criticism from the public.”
The source added that some members wanted the committee to approach the court to secure Adeyemi’s release so that he could testify publicly.
“These are the issues delaying the report,” the source said.
