President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate what officials describe as a fictitious entity calling itself the “Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council,” directing the agency to complete its probe and report back within 30 days.
The directive follows discovery that the PFIPC was never created by the Federal Government, and has no statutory or executive basis, the President’s spokesman Bayo Onanuga said in a statement on Tuesday.
One Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew presented himself as the council’s director-general and purported to be a presidential appointee, the statement said.
President Tinubu asked the ICPC to examine alleged forged appointment letters and other counterfeit government documents; claims of presidential appointment used to secure official recognition, diplomatic support and visa facilitation; and the opening of multiple bank accounts in the names of purported agencies using the allegedly forged paperwork.
The commission’s remit includes not only the conduct of the principal actor and any collaborators, but also the broader circumstances that allowed a spurious body and false claims of presidential appointment to gain the appearance of legitimacy, the statement said.
Investigators are to trace the origin and use of the documents, review processes by which recognition or diplomatic support may have been sought or obtained, audit any related bank accounts, and follow the movement of funds.
The President also requested that the ICPC identify institutional weaknesses exploited in the case and recommend immediate reforms to prevent similar abuses, according to the release.
All Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies have also been ordered to furnish the commission, on lawful request, with information and records needed to complete the inquiry.
“The integrity of the Presidency and the institutions of the Federal Government must be protected against impersonation, forgery, abuse of official identity and the exploitation of weaknesses in the public service,” the statement quoted President Tinubu as saying.
It added that anyone found culpable will be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
