The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Esther Didi Walson-Jack, has admitted that her office failed to carry out adequate checks before approving the establishment and recruitment waiver for the controversial Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), which lawmakers say were created using fake documents.
Walson-Jack made the admission on Wednesday while appearing before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged creation of the two agencies without legal backing.
Addressing lawmakers, she acknowledged that her office relied on documents that were later discovered to be fake when granting approvals to the purported agency.
“We now, having seen all the facts and observed all the documents, concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in the discharge of the duties of the office in issuing an authorised establishment and a recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC,” she said.
She explained that officials representing the agency had appeared during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence with what seemed to be a valid Establishment Act and a letter appointing a Director-General. According to her, civil service procedures require newly created agencies to present such documents before recruitment approvals can be granted.
The Head of Service described the incident as unprecedented, saying the Federal Civil Service had never experienced a case like it in its history.
“In over almost a century of the Federal Civil Service, we have never encountered a situation like the current one. Criminals always try to be a step ahead of law enforcement,” she told the committee.
However, she admitted that after personally reviewing the documents, it became obvious that the Establishment Act submitted was not genuine.
“I requested to see the documents myself and I saw that the Establishment Act was not really an authentic Act. I have almost 30 years of legal practice experience and immediately I saw it, I knew it was not,” Walson-Jack stated.
She also questioned the authenticity of the appointment letter allegedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, noting clear differences in the signatures.
The committee chairman revealed that forensic experts from the Nigeria Police had already confirmed that the signatures on the document were fake.
“The police forensic department has already analysed the signatures and confirmed that those signatures are not the same. In fact, there was not even an attempt to imitate the signature,” the chairman said.
Lawmakers also disclosed that the so-called Establishment Act lacked essential features found in valid Acts of the National Assembly, including citation numbers and official gazette references.
Despite admitting shortcomings, Walson-Jack maintained that the approvals were processed in line with existing procedures based on the documents submitted to her office. She assured lawmakers that new measures would be introduced to prevent similar incidents.
“We take full responsibility and we will definitely review our processes to make them more fraud-proof,” she pledged.
The committee also questioned officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over how an administrative code was issued to the alleged fake agency.
A former Director of Consolidation Account and Director of Federal Projects, Joshua Patmi Luka, explained that the office had sent the administrative code to the Permanent Secretary of the State House after receiving what appeared to be an official request.
However, the committee alleged that the letter never reached the Permanent Secretary but was instead collected by the alleged fake Director-General. Lawmakers further claimed that the Directorate of Administration and Support Services referenced in the documents did not exist within the State House.
Responding, Luka insisted the failure was the responsibility of an individual officer rather than an institutional lapse.
The committee said its investigation had uncovered what appeared to be a coordinated scheme involving fake appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents and fictitious government offices used to obtain official approvals.
Police representatives also informed lawmakers that the main suspect could not be produced because he remains in lawful custody under a valid court order.
The committee is expected to conclude the clarification stage of its investigation before releasing its preliminary findings next week, ahead of submitting its final report to the House of Representatives.
