The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the circumstances surrounding the ‘Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC)’ on Tuesday invited the Foreign Affairs Minister and the National Security Adviser (NSA) for clarifications on the existence of the fake agency.
The Chairman of the ad hoc committee, Yusuf Gagdi, handed down the invitations during an investigative session on the matter at the National Assembly, Abuja.
Mr Gagdi, who interrogated the existence of the fake agency, said that its diplomatic engagement with some embassies was an embarrassment to Nigeria.
He expressed dismay over the inability of the foreign affairs ministry to effectively detect the fake agency.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs is hereby invited to appear on Thursday, July 23.
“The National Security Adviser is also invited to appear before this committee to explain why his office did not go further in enquiries after receiving a letter from the Foreign Affairs Ministry labelling the agency fake,” he said.
Responding, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dunoma Ahmed, acknowledged receipt of letters from the fake agency requesting engagement with diplomats.
Mr Ahmed explained that upon reception of the letters, the ministry carried out enquiries into its originality and discovered that the agency was fake.
“We, therefore, wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser, informing them that the agency was fake,” he said.
The impostor Director General of PFIPC, Adeyemi Matthew, has been arrested and detained in Osun State.
His arrest followed a warrant issued by the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, after he failed to appear at a hearing to face charges of forgery and impersonation before the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Reports about the fake agency have been trending in media since Mr Tinubu ordered a corruption investigation into it.
(NAN)
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