The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday told the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) that it reported the council and its self-acclaimed Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in October 2025 after discovering discrepancies in documents submitted to the ministry.

The ministry also disclosed that it rejected three separate requests from the council seeking its collaboration and endorsement to host a World Investment Summit in Nigeria, insisting that it never had any official dealings with the organisation.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dunoma Umar Ahmed, who appeared before the committee chaired by the lawmaker representing Kanke/Kanam/Pankshin Federal Constituency of Plateau State, Yusuf Gagdi, said records showed that Prince Adeyemi approached the ministry on three occasions requesting its support for the proposed investment summit.

According to him, the requests were received on June 26, 2025, August 5, 2025, and June 5, 2026.

Ahmed said the ministry, guided by established rules and due diligence procedures, declined to act on the requests.

“Guided by extant rules and regulations as well as the necessity of carrying out due diligence before obliging any request, the Ministry did not take any action on the requests,” he said.

He explained that the ministry’s refusal was informed by discrepancies observed in the documents submitted by Prince Adeyemi, as well as growing concerns over the legitimacy of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and its purported Director-General.

The Permanent Secretary disclosed that after discovering the inconsistencies, the ministry wrote to the ONSA on October 16, 2025, seeking clarification on the status of Prince Adeyemi and the council.

According to him, the ONSA responded on November 26, 2025, conveying that enquiries made with both the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President established that Prince Adeyemi was unknown to any office of the Federal Government.

Ahmed also dismissed suggestions that the ministry had any diplomatic or investment-related engagement with the council.

He told lawmakers that the ministry did not participate in any bilateral or multilateral discussions organised by the PFIPC, neither did the council facilitate any foreign investors, partners or delegations through the ministry.

He added that there was no record of any Memorandum of Understanding or agreement signed between the council and any foreign government through the ministry.

“The Ministry did not play any role with the council in promoting Nigeria’s investment abroad,” he said.

Ahmed further stated that no Nigerian mission abroad had any interaction with the council because no directive recognising it was ever issued by the ministry.

He stressed that apart from the correspondence submitted to the committee, the ministry had no other document linked to the PFIPC.

“Flowing from the above, I wish to respectfully conclude by saying that the Ministry has never had any official interaction or engagement with the PFIPC or its alleged Director-General,” he said.

The House panel is investigating the circumstances surrounding the operations of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, which the Presidency has declared was never established by the Federal Government.

The controversy began after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, publicly disowned the PFIPC and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), stating that neither body was created by President Bola Tinubu or any law of the Federation.

The Presidency subsequently accused Prince Adeyemi of using forged government documents to obtain official recognition from public institutions.

Since the commencement of the probe, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation admitted it failed to adequately verify documents submitted by the council before issuing it an authorised establishment, while the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed that it opened two foreign currency accounts for the council on the directive of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, although the accounts remained dormant and recorded no transactions.