The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs has disclosed that it rejected three separate requests from Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claimed to be the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), to support the hosting of a World Investment Summit in Nigeria.
The revelation was made during the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee probing the alleged establishment of the PFIPC without legal backing.
Appearing before the committee on Tuesday, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dunoma Umar Ahmed, said the requests were submitted on June 26, 2025, August 5, 2025, and June 5, 2026, but the ministry declined to act on them due to concerns over the council’s legitimacy.
“Guided by extant rules and regulations and the need to carry out due diligence, the Ministry did not take any action on the requests,” the ministry stated.
According to the ministry, its decision was based on discrepancies found in the correspondence received from Adeyemi and the ongoing investigation into the authenticity of both the PFIPC and its alleged Director-General.
The Permanent Secretary also revealed that the ministry wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in October 2025 to verify Adeyemi’s status.
In its response dated November 26, 2025, the NSA reportedly informed the ministry that enquiries with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President showed that Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi was unknown to any office of the Federal Government.
The ministry further told lawmakers that it had no official relationship with the PFIPC and never participated in any of its diplomatic engagements or activities.
Lawmakers, however, questioned how the alleged council was still able to organise events involving foreign diplomats despite being declared illegal.
The committee chairman described the development as disturbing and announced that both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Adviser would appear before the panel to explain how the council allegedly continued operating despite concerns over its legal status.
The chairman said the NSA, in particular, must explain what actions were taken after confirming that the council lacked official recognition.
The committee maintained that its investigation into the PFIPC controversy is ongoing and promised to uncover how the alleged council carried out diplomatic engagements despite warnings about its legitimacy.
