President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic investigation into government processes and internal controls that allowed fictitious agencies, including the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), to operate within the Federal Government system.
The directive followed an interim investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which established that the PFIPC and its purported head, Adeniyi Adeyemi, had no legal or governmental backing.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, made this known on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Oyedele said the ICPC investigation had uncovered other fictitious bodies within the government system, prompting the council to approve a broader forensic review to establish how such entities were able to operate undetected.
He said the investigation would examine government procedures, administrative processes and internal control mechanisms, with the objective of identifying weaknesses, correcting them and preventing a recurrence.
According to him, Tinubu had directed the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and other relevant agencies to work together to address the issue from administrative, accounting and governance perspectives.
The review will also cover the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), amid concerns that fictitious agencies could have facilitated the creation of bogus employees and ghost workers.
Oyedele warned that such practices could undermine government efforts to improve the welfare and remuneration of legitimate civil servants.
Earlier, ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu, had presented the commission’s interim report on the investigation ordered by Tinubu into the PFIPC.
Aliyu said the investigation, completed within the 30-day deadline issued by the President on July 7, established that neither Adeyemi nor the PFIPC had any legal recognition from the Federal Government.
The ICPC chairman said Adeyemi was not appointed by the Federal Government or any authorised institution, while the PFIPC was not created by legislation, executive order or any other valid government instrument.
He further disclosed that the group unlawfully assumed the identity and operational instruments of the former Presidential Economic Advisory Council, allegedly using them to create an appearance of legitimacy while engaging in impersonation and other unlawful activities.
Meanwhile, FEC has approved President Tinubu’s directive that liquid funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) be channelled to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to strengthen its capacity to meet its growing obligations to Nigerian students.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the decision after the council meeting.
Alausa said the council also approved the transfer of unclaimed dividends from the Capital Market Trust Fund and the Dormant Account Trust Fund to NELFUND.
He stressed that the directive applies to liquid and unencumbered funds that are not subject to legal disputes, rather than seized properties or assets recovered by the EFCC.
The minister said the measures were part of Tinubu’s commitment to expanding access to education and ensuring that NELFUND has sufficient resources to sustain its student-loan obligations.
“Note, and the President was very clear, not ceased properties, or recovered looted funds, but liquid funds, from the EFCC will now be transferred to NELFund,” Alausa added.
COURTESY: PoliticsNigeria
