Official documents exclusively obtained by Saturday PUNCH have cast fresh doubt on the Presidency’s insistence that the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council never existed.
The documents reveal that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation received, acknowledged and acted on correspondence submitted in the council’s name months before the Presidency publicly disowned it.
Specifically, the SGF’s office formally processed and forwarded a request by the council’s self-styled Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, seeking office accommodation from recovered Federal Government properties through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The correspondence, dated November 21, 2024, was signed by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri, on behalf of the SGF.
Attached to it was Adeyemi’s November 7, 2024, request for office accommodation for the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
Registry stamps show the letter was received by the SGF’s office on November 12 before it was forwarded to the anti-graft agency nine days later.
The forwarding letter, titled “Request for Office Accommodation,” informed the EFCC that three government institutions had applied for office accommodation from recovered Federal Government properties.The letter specifically identified one of the requests as Ref. No. SH/DG/PFIPC/RQ/107, dated November 7, 2024, submitted by the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.It stated, “I am directed to forward the attached copies of letters requesting allocation of office accommodation from the recovered Federal Government landed properties for further necessary action.”In his accompanying letter to the SGF, Adeyemi presented the PFIPC as a Federal Government investment promotion agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment into Nigeria.
He claimed that the council “also serves as the resource and coordinating centre for the Nation’s Foreign Investment Promotion activities – a One-Stop-Shop for Investments centre coordinating investment-related activities across ministries, departments and agencies and promoting Nigeria as a preferred investment destination.”
According to the letter, the council “facilitates the interaction between public and private sectors, and has an active role in policy advocacy and promotes a positive image of Nigeria as a country that is attractive to foreign investors.”
The letter added that the council “liaises with all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to develop, compile and collate data and information, serving as the repository of information on investment opportunities in Nigeria.”
It further stated that “as a one-stop investment centre, it coordinates all actions to ensure that investors, both potential and existing, receive the best possible support from the MDAs.”
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