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The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) has summoned the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to explain the actions taken by his office after it was alerted to the activities of the unrecognised council in October 2025.
The committee also directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, to personally appear before it, while warning Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that continued failure to honour its invitations would attract constitutional sanctions.
Chairman of the committee, Yusuf Gagdi, declared that Wednesday would be the final opportunity for defaulting institutions to comply voluntarily, stressing that any agency that failed to appear with the required officials and documents would face legal consequences for obstructing the investigation.
The summons followed testimony by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dunoma Umar Ahmed, who disclosed that the ministry had reported the activities of the PFIPC and its self-acclaimed Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, to the Office of the National Security Adviser after identifying discrepancies in documents submitted by the organisation.
Ahmed told lawmakers that Adeyemi approached the ministry on three occasions seeking collaboration to host a World Investment Summit in Nigeria, but the requests were rejected after due diligence uncovered inconsistencies.
According to him, the ministry wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser on October 16, 2025, seeking clarification on Adeyemi's status, and received a response on November 26 confirming that both the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President had no record of the alleged agency or its director.
He maintained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs never participated in any diplomatic engagement involving the PFIPC, facilitated foreign investors on its behalf, or signed any agreement relating to the organisation.
Reacting to the testimony, Gagdi questioned why stronger action was not taken after the NSA's office reportedly established that the council was not recognised by the Federal Government, insisting that Ribadu must explain the steps taken after the discovery.
The committee reiterated that invitations issued by the House under Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution are legally binding and warned that any institution obstructing the investigation would face all constitutional and statutory sanctions available to Parliament.
The lawmakers are investigating how the PFIPC allegedly secured recognition from government institutions and was allocated funds in the 2026 Appropriation Act despite lacking legal backing after the Presidency disowned the council.
In a related development, reports indicated that Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, may have withdrawn from representing Adeyemi in the ongoing criminal proceedings. Sources familiar with the case attributed the decision to challenges in obtaining documents needed for the defence, although neither Falana nor his chambers had officially confirmed the development.
Meanwhile, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) dismissed reports that the President's Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, was arrested over the PFIPC investigation, clarifying that he voluntarily honoured an invitation, responded to investigators' questions and was allowed to leave.
Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, however, challenged the anti-graft agency to release the full video of Gbajabiamila's interrogation, while lawyer Maxwell Opara called for the arrest of all public officials implicated in the investigation, insisting that no one should be above the law.
