Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claims to be the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, PFIPC, has questioned how the agency was captured in the national budget despite the Presidency’s insistence that it never existed.
Speaking in a chat with social media activist, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, Adeyemi said he was in police detention during the period the budget was being prepared and therefore could not have participated in the budget defence process.
According to him, he was invited by the Nigeria Police Force on October 27 over a petition allegedly filed by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, questioning the activities of the PFIPC.
Adeyemi said he honoured the invitation and was interrogated about the agency, his appointment letter and those who facilitated his appointment.
He claimed he remained in detention for 23 days, from October 27 to November 19, before being charged to court on November 27.
According to him, the agency’s office had already been reallocated to another government official by the time he regained his freedom, and he has not returned to the office since his arrest.
Adeyemi said the circumstances surrounding the inclusion of the PFIPC in the national budget remain puzzling, insisting that neither he nor anyone else defended the agency’s budget before the National Assembly.
He questioned how lawmakers and other relevant authorities failed to detect what the Presidency now describes as a non-existent agency before the budget was passed and signed into law.
On the claims by Gbajabiamila that the agency never existed, Adeyemi said he was not in a position to accuse the Chief of Staff of lying but maintained that an independent investigation was necessary to establish the facts.
He reiterated his earlier appeal to President Bola Tinubu to constitute an investigative panel to determine how the agency emerged and who was responsible.
Adeyemi also pledged to submit all documents in his possession to the police or the Department of State Services to assist investigators in verifying their authenticity and uncovering the truth.
He further alleged that he survived an attack by gunmen near Zuma Rock, close to Madala, in September last year.
He said: “You see this whole thing is confusing, as in very confusing. When the presidency, through the chief of staff, said the agency does not exist, I wondered.
“How come the agency found its way to the national budget, that both the Senate, where we have so many experienced senators, 360 members of representatives, would detect that this is a fake agency, then transmitted to the president to sign.
“How come the chief of staff is not aware that the said agency is inside the budget? So that’s why I’m confused, and that gave me the audacity to come out to do a rebuttal of his disclaimer, like two weeks ago.
“I’m not the one. During the preparation for budget, I was invited by the Nigerian Police Force. I was invited to come and respond to a petition from the Chief of Staff to the President, questioning my activity of the said agency.
“I honored the invitation. So they asked me so many questions. How did the agency come to force. I gave them the appointment letter. Then they asked me who helped you to get the appointment letter. I gave them the number, the name, everything.
“I was in detention for good 23 days. I was arrested or invited on 27th of October and released on 19th of November.
“I was in detention during the period for the preparation of budget.
“I did not defend the budget, and nobody went for the defence. That’s why I am confused that how come the budget that nobody defended it still find its way into the national budget.
“By the time I came out from the detention, on 19 November, I was charged to court on 27th of November, and the said office space has been reallocated to another government officials. So I’ve not been going to office since that 27th of October. So that’s why I’m confused: how does the agency find its way to the national budget?
“I wouldn’t say he (Gbajabiamila) is lying, and I wouldn’t say he’s saying the truth. That’s why I requested, if you see from my press conference, I said I plead with Mr President to set up an investigative panel to look into this whole issue and unravel the truth, so we know who are involved.”
