By Samuel Olusegun Precious
Abuja- The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Esther Didi Walson-Jack has admitted not carrying out due diligence on the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
Walson-Jack made this disclosure on Wednesday when she appeared before the ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives investigating the phantom agency.
The committee is probing how the Prince Adeyemi Matthew led PFIPC and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council allegedly secured official government recognition without any enabling legislation.
Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, who is at the centre of investigation as the Director-General, allegedly forged appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents, and fictitious government offices to obtain approvals from several federal institutions.
She was quoted as saying during the hearing: “I requested to see the documents myself, and I saw that the Establishment Act was not really an authentic Act. I have almost 30 years of legal practice experience, and immediately I saw it, I knew it was not real.”
The Head of Service also added that the signature on the appointment letter, which was allegedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, was different from other documents bearing the same signatory’s name.
Accountant General’s Office Account
Also at the hearing, Director of the Federal Project Financial Department in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Joshua Luka confirmed to the committee that his office had deliberately addressed an administrative code letter to the State House Permanent Secretary rather than the agency, as a precaution.
However, the Reps committee noted that the letter never reached the Permanent Secretary and was instead collected by Adeyemi. Luka attributed the failure to a single staff member, whom he identified as Bello Abdullahi, who sat in the hearing room during the session.
The hearing of the House Ad-Hoc Committee, with Yusuf Gagdi, the lawmaker representing Kanke/Kanam/Pankshin Federal Constituency in Plateau State, as chairman continues.
