“We Failed to Do Enough Due Diligence” — Civil Service Chief Admits Lapses in ₦1.3bn ‘Phantom’ PFIPC Scandal

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has admitted that her office did not conduct sufficient due diligence before granting administrative recognition to the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC)—an entity now described by the Presidency as non-existent.

Walson-Jack made the admission on Wednesday while appearing before the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating how the PFIPC gained access to federal administrative systems despite lacking any legal backing.

She told lawmakers that her office acted on documents that appeared valid at the time but were later discovered to be irregular.

“We now, having seen all the facts and observed all the documents, concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in the discharge of the duties of the office in issuing an authorised establishment and a recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC,” she said.

Her statement marks the strongest official acknowledgment yet that internal administrative lapses within the civil service contributed to the recognition of the disputed organisation.

According to her, representatives of the purported council appeared during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence exercise and submitted several documents, including what was presented as an Establishment Act and an appointment letter for its Director-General.

Based on these submissions, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service issued an authorised establishment for the entity and later approved a recruitment waiver.

However, Walson-Jack clarified that no civil servants were recruited, deployed, or assigned to the organisation.

She further revealed that a subsequent review of the documents—prompted by the ongoing investigation—showed that the alleged Establishment Act was not authentic.

She added that forensic analysis by the police indicated that key signatures on the documents did not match verified government signatures.

The PFIPC has since been declared by the Presidency as a non-existent or “phantom” organisation, with no legal foundation through an Act of the National Assembly, presidential directive, executive order, or any other statutory instrument.

Despite this, the entity reportedly obtained administrative recognition, including an official code that enabled it to appear in the 2026 Federal Budget with an allocation of about ₦1.3 billion.

Officials from the Budget Office of the Federation and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation told the committee that no funds were released or disbursed under the allocation.

The committee also heard allegations that the self-styled Director-General of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi, had requested an additional ₦27.3 billion as a take-off grant for the organisation, a request that was not approved.

Lawmakers are now investigating how allegedly forged or irregular documents were able to pass through multiple layers of federal administrative processes before the entity’s legitimacy was questioned.

The probe is being led by the House Ad Hoc Committee chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, which is examining possible procedural failures and identifying officials who may have facilitated the approvals.

Adeyemi remains a key figure in the investigation but has not appeared before the committee due to an existing court order.

Walson-Jack, while accepting institutional responsibility, assured lawmakers that her office would strengthen internal verification systems to prevent a recurrence.

She pledged a comprehensive review of vetting procedures to ensure that future approvals undergo stricter scrutiny.

The PFIPC controversy has continued to attract national attention, raising concerns about document verification processes, institutional accountability, and governance within the federal civil service.

The investigation is ongoing, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directing the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to conduct a full inquiry into how the organisation gained administrative recognition despite lacking legal existence.