The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have distanced themselves from the establishment and operations of the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Naija News reports that both institutions made their positions known on Monday during an appearance before the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating the purported creation of the council without a valid legal framework.
The committee is examining the legal status, administrative structure, funding and activities of the PFIPC, as well as its relationship with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, told the committee that her office lacked the constitutional authority to establish ministries, departments or agencies.
A representative of the office explained that the OHCSF’s role was limited to approving the administrative structures of government institutions after they had been lawfully created by the appropriate authorities.
“The approval and establishment of agencies is not within the purview of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. However, the OHCSF is responsible for approving the administrative structure of federal government agencies,” the official said.
The office disclosed that the council applied for approval of its organisational structure on August 6, 2025, but failed to submit the necessary documents.
“From our records, the council submitted a request to the OHCSF for approval of its organisational structure on the 6th of August, 2025, without providing the requisite documents. Consequently, the request was not granted,” the representative told the lawmakers.
Council Sought Approval For 314 Positions
The OHCSF, however, confirmed that officials representing the PEAC/PFIPC sought an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver during the 2025 annual manpower budget defence exercise.
According to the office, the council claimed that it had been operating largely with personnel deployed or seconded from other government institutions.
The committee was told that the body requested approval for 314 positions, comprising 14 existing officers and 300 proposed additional staff.
The positions were subsequently included among manpower approvals granted to federal institutions.
The civil service office also said it later discovered irregularities in the document presented by the council as the legal basis for its operations.
“It was observed that the document presented by the council as its enabling law or legal instrument did not really carry the requisite features,” the representative said.
Walson-Jack also denied claims that her office deployed civil servants to the council or provided it with office accommodation.
“We wish to state that there was no deployment of staff by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to the council,” she said.
The OHCSF added that matters concerning the creation and supervision of the body fell within the responsibilities of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and other relevant authorities.
CBN Confirms Two Inactive Accounts
Meanwhile, the CBN told the committee that two foreign currency accounts opened for the PEAC/PFIPC had never been activated and remained empty.
A director at the apex bank, Hamisu Abdullahi, who represented the CBN governor, said the accounts were opened following a formal mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He explained that the bank could only open accounts for government institutions after receiving proper authorisation from the Accountant-General’s office.
“On July 30, 2025, we received a mandate dated July 29, 2025, from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to open one United States dollar domiciliary account and one Pound Sterling domiciliary account,” Abdullahi said.
He said the accounts were not activated because the council failed to submit the names and details of authorised signatories.
“Those two accounts remain inactive with zero balance and have never been operated,” he said.
Abdullahi said the accounts had not received any foreign exchange allocation, remittance or other inflow since they were opened.
He added that no withdrawals or other financial transactions had been carried out on either account.
The CBN official also told the committee that the council had no direct correspondence with the apex bank regarding the operation of the accounts.
Following the presentations, the Chairman of the committee, Abdulmalik Danga, directed the CBN to provide comprehensive records relating to the accounts of both the PFIPC and the PEAC.
Danga said, “We want details of account activities relating to the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council as well as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
“From the opening of the accounts to their last status, this committee wants the complete records.”
The committee also asked the apex bank to obtain details of any related accounts maintained with commercial banks.
Danga said the information would assist the lawmakers in concluding their investigation into the establishment, funding and operations of the council.
