ABUJA, Nigeria — A document used to secure official Federal Government number plates for an unauthorised agency presented President Bola Tinubu as chairman of the organisation, a House of Representatives committee has heard.
The purported mandate also named the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as the council’s secretary and listed serving ministers among its members, despite the Presidency’s denial that the body was ever established or approved.
The document emerged during an investigative hearing in Abuja on Thursday, August 6, 2026, as the Federal Road Safety Corps explained how it issued seven government registration plates to vehicles operated by the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
The House ad hoc committee investigating the PFIPC said the papers submitted to the FRSC lacked the security features normally found on authentic State House documents.
FRSC Explains Approval of Seven Plates
Shehu Mohammed, the FRSC Corps Marshal, appeared before the committee after lawmakers summoned him to explain how vehicles associated with the disputed council obtained official government registration numbers.
In a memorandum submitted to the panel, Mohammed said the application process began with a letter dated April 4, 2025.
The request was signed by Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, who presented himself as director-general of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
A reminder followed on April 11, accompanied by documents that purportedly created the council, described its responsibilities and identified the vehicles for which official plates were being requested.
Adeyemi personally delivered the application to the FRSC headquarters, according to the corps marshal.
FRSC officials also visited the address supplied by the applicant at the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja and found what appeared to be a functioning office.
The agency examined a website carrying a Federal Government domain and reviewed information identifying the President, senior government officials and ministers as members of the council.
After checking the chassis numbers of the vehicles, the FRSC approved seven official registration plates bearing numbers from PFIPC 01 to PFIPC 07.
The vehicles included a 2024 bulletproof Lexus LX, two Toyota Land Cruiser sport utility vehicles and four Toyota Hilux trucks.
“It therefore came as a profound shock to the Corps when it subsequently emerged that the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council was not an approved Federal Government Agency and that the representations made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi were false,” Mohammed said.
Lawmakers Question Verification Process
Yusuf Gagdi, chairman of the committee, questioned why the names of the President, the SGF and members of the Federal Executive Council did not prompt the FRSC to seek direct confirmation from the State House.
He observed that the papers did not contain identifiable security markings ordinarily associated with documents issued by the Presidency.
Gagdi also challenged the likelihood that an organisation headed by the President and populated by senior government officials would submit such papers without an official communication directly traceable to the Presidency.
“Does this look normal to you?” Gagdi asked.
“No, not at all,” Mohammed replied.
The corps marshal maintained that officers had followed the information available to them at the time.
He cited the organisation’s physical office, government-domain website, submitted documents and the presence of vehicles whose identification details were successfully verified.
The committee said those checks established only that an office and vehicles existed. They did not independently establish that the Federal Government had created the council or appointed the officials named in its documents.
Lawmakers directed the FRSC to provide the current locations and status of all seven vehicles.
The agency said it had begun the administrative process of withdrawing the number plates and had reviewed its internal verification procedures.
State House Rejects Council’s Documents
The State House separately denied creating the PFIPC or requesting administrative recognition for it.
Abdulkadri Idris, a director of administration who represented the State House permanent secretary, told the committee that the Presidency did not ask the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to issue a budget code for the council.
He also rejected documents purportedly issued by an official identified as Akande Adewale, described in the papers as director of administration and support services.
The State House said no person by that name had served as its director of administration and that it had no department known as the Directorate of Administration and Support Services.
Authentic State House records and samples of official letterheads were presented to the committee to support the denial.
“The State House has denied that it ever wrote any letter to the Accountant-General requesting for budget codes,” Gagdi said.
He added that the name of the purported signatory could not be found in official personnel records.
The Presidency also said appointments of directors-general approved by the President would ordinarily be conveyed through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation rather than through the type of State House correspondence submitted by Adeyemi.
Plates Helped Create Appearance of Legitimacy
The official number plates have become an important part of the inquiry because witnesses said they helped convince members of the public that the PFIPC was a genuine government institution.
Gbenga Collins, managing director of Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, previously told the committee that he paid ₦400 million after Adeyemi offered his company a contract connected to the renovation and furnishing of an official residence.
Collins said a vehicle carrying a Federal Government number plate collected him from the Abuja airport and took him to an office at the Federal Secretariat.
He also encountered security personnel, visitors and a convoy of government-registered vehicles around Adeyemi.
The businessman said those signs of authority persuaded him that he was dealing with a properly constituted federal agency.
The alleged contract was not executed, and Collins later petitioned law-enforcement agencies over the money.
Adeyemi remains in police custody under a court order and has not appeared publicly before the House committee to answer the allegations. The panel has said it intends to question him without disrupting the criminal investigations already under way.
The claims against him have not yet been determined by a court.
Inquiry Examines Failures Across Government
The House established the committee to determine how the PFIPC obtained recognition from several public institutions despite having no law, executive order or valid appointment establishing it.
The inquiry is examining official correspondence, budgetary entries, government number plates, office accommodation and other approvals allegedly obtained by the council.
A parallel investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission found that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government and that documents used to support his position were forged.
The ICPC also uncovered two additional organisations allegedly created through fabricated legislative instruments.
The commission said no federal funds had been released to the PFIPC, although investigators were examining bank accounts and the conduct of public officers who may have assisted the organisation.
The House committee is expected to determine whether officials knowingly collaborated with the operators or failed to carry out adequate verification.
Its investigation will also consider how a physical office, a government-domain website and official vehicle plates combined to give an unauthorised organisation the appearance of federal authority.
