The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, is set to inaugurate a high-stakes ad hoc committee today, Monday, July 20, 2026. The panel will launch a comprehensive legislative inquiry into the shocking inclusion of a non-existent federal agency in the signed 2026 Appropriation Act.
The probe panel, chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi (representing Kanke/Kanam/Pankshin Federal Constituency of Plateau State), was constituted following intense national outrage. The uproar began when trackers discovered that a completely unestablished body, the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), had been allocated ₦1.32 billion in public funds.
The Anatomy of a Ghost Agency
The scandal blew wide open following the arrest of Adeyemi Adeniyi Matthew. He is a suspected con artist accused of posing as the Director-General of the fictitious council.
Remarkably, the fake agency did not just exist on paper. Before it was flagged, the PFIPC had allegedly:
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Occupied State Infrastructure: Set up fully functional operations from a leased office space right inside the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
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Conducted Mass Recruitment: Purportedly secured official employment waivers and recruited up to 300 unsuspecting staff members in August 2025.
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Sought International Passage: Successfully utilized fake presidential appointment papers to interact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and secure travel visas.
Firestorm Over Gbajabiamila’s Omission
The controversy has triggered a massive row within the National Assembly complex. While the House panel has summoned an exhaustive list of top government officials, the committee is already facing heavy criticism for omitting the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, from the witness list.
During initial interrogations, the detained suspect, Adeyemi, alleged that he paid ₦100 million through intermediaries directly to Gbajabiamila to facilitate the council’s back-door establishment. While the Presidency and the Office of the Chief of Staff have aggressively denied the bribe claims—branding Adeyemi an institutional fraudster with a long history of criminal impersonation—opposition coalitions are demanding that the probe leave no sacred cows protected.
“A Presidency that is at the very heart of a historic scandal such as this does not have the credibility to dictate the terms of this investigation. The credibility of the entire exercise depends on allowing investigators to follow the evidence wherever it leads.” — Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC National Publicity Secretary
Who is Appearing Before the Panel?
Invoked under the legislative oversight powers granted by Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, the Gagdi-led panel has commanded the physical appearance of the state’s entire economic and security hierarchy:
| Ministries & Agencies Summoned | Expected Deliverables to the House |
| Budget & Economic Planning | Must explain the exact point of entry where the ₦1.32bn line item was slipped into the fiscal document. |
| Finance / Central Bank of Nigeria | Required to provide comprehensive forensic statements to verify if any treasury funds were moved. |
| EFCC & ICPC Chairmen | To cross-examine findings with parallel 30-day independent criminal investigations ordered by the President. |
| Foreign Affairs & Justice Ministers | Must review all fraudulent diplomatic clearances and compromised establishment letters. |
The Yusuf Gagdi committee has been given a strict mandate to untangle how a multi-million-dollar phantom project bypassed rigorous technical budget defenses, cabinet evaluations, and bicameral legislative screenings. The panel’s public hearing begins immediately following the formal swearing-in ceremony in Abuja today.
Ayodele Quadri
Correspondent
