The Head of Service tells lawmakers her office rejected the fake agency’s paperwork, but admits it was not properly verified
Didi Esther Walson-Jack, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), has told the House of Representatives that the office space used by the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja was officially allocated to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), not her office.
Walson-Jack made the disclosure on Monday while appearing before the House ad hoc committee investigating the PFIPC controversy and the N1.3 billion allocated to the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The PFIPC has been at the centre of a growing scandal involving the alleged forgery of an appointment letter purportedly signed by President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, who has denied issuing it.
The presidency has maintained the letter was forged, while Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man accused of operating the council, was arrested by police in Osun State on 14 July.
Why PFIPC’s office space became a flashpoint
Walson-Jack said the office, located in Phase III of the Federal Secretariat, formed part of accommodation allocated to the OSGF since 16 November 2023.
“We can state categorically that the office of the head of the civil service of the federation did not allocate any office space to the PFIPC,” she said.
She said the council approached her office on 6 August 2025 seeking approval of its organisational structure, but the request was initially declined for lack of required documents, such as an establishment Act or other valid legal instrument.
She said PFIPC officials later participated in the 2025 annual workforce projection exercise, describing themselves as new entrants operating with personnel seconded from other agencies.
She disclosed that the council had secured an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver for 314 staff positions, including its director-general, after submitting an appointment letter and documents showing it already had a budget code.
That request was approved in the fourth batch of submissions on 18 July 2025, by the permanent secretary overseeing the office in her absence.
Walson-Jack also denied claims that her office deployed civil servants to the council, saying recruitment and placement remain the responsibility of individual agencies.
HoS admits gaps in verifying PFIPC’s documents
Committee member Hassan Fulata questioned why the HoS accepted PFIPC’s documents without confirming its purported enabling Act was genuine.
He noted that agencies cannot join the budget process without valid legal backing.
Walson-Jack conceded the shortcoming, saying the officers who initially assessed the documents were not lawyers and failed to detect that the enabling Act was fake.
“So we concede that we didn’t do the best we ought to have done in cross-checking those documents at the time they were presented,” she said.
She added that a review of the office’s verification procedures is now underway.
Separately, Abdullahi Hamisu, Director of Banking Services at the Central Bank of Nigeria, told the committee that two foreign currency accounts were opened for the PFIPC on 30 July 2025, on the directive of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, following standard procedures that did not require an enabling Act.
He said the accounts were never funded or operated.
The committee, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, has summoned George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget; Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Finance; Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, Accountant-General of the Federation; Tanimu Yakubu, Director-General of the Budget Office; Hulayat Omidiran, Executive Chairperson of the Federal Character Commission; and Ekpo Nta, Chairperson of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, over the council’s operations and its inclusion in the 2026 budget.
