*Adeyemi Rejects Closed-Door Quiz, Asks To Be Heard Publicly
PURPORTED director general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has rejected the House of Representatives ad hoc committee’s decision to quiz him at an undisclosed location, while he remains in Police custody, insisting on appearing publicly before the lawmakers. The embattled Adeyemi, in a statement by his lawyer, Ademola Oyedokun, while welcoming the House probe into the alleged establishment and operations of the PFIPC, however, opposed the plan to interrogate him behind closed doors, arguing that fairness demanded he be allowed to respond publicly to allegations already made against him during the committee’s open hearings. He stated: “We have read that the committee intends to interview our client at an undisclosed date and place. We ask it, respectfully, to think again. “Everyone else in this matter has been heard in public, and what has been said about our client was said in public. He should be allowed to answer in the same place it was said.” He urged the committee to invoke its constitutional powers under Section 89 of the Constitution to compel the Police to produce Adeyemi at a public sitting, noting: “Section 89 of the Constitution gives the committee power to summon any person and to compel his attendance. “We ask it to use that power and to require the police to produce our client at a public sitting. “He will attend on any date it names, with his counsel, and answer every question put to him.” Oyedokun added that while the criminal allegations against Adeyemi would be addressed before the Federal High Court and relevant investigative agencies, the House probe into how the PFIPC came into existence and whether government officials acted upon it deserved to be conducted openly. He further stated: “Our client does not ask the committee to compromise any investigation. He will answer in public the questions this committee was constituted to ask, and will reserve, upon legal advice, any question touching a matter before a court or an agency. “Those may be taken separately and in private. What cannot be right is that the whole of his account be taken behind a closed door because part of it is sensitive. “We will not argue our client’s case in a press statement. The allegations are before the Federal High Court and before several agencies, and they will be answered there, on oath. “But this committee is asking a different question: how this council came to exist, and who in government acted upon it. “That question our client is anxious to answer, and Nigerians are entitled to hear it answered in public. We ask only that they remember, meanwhile, that no court has yet heard him say a single word.” He challenged the legality of Adeyemi’s continued detention, arguing that the bench warrant relied upon by the Police only authorised Adeyemi’s arrest and production before the Federal High Court, not his prolonged detention, insisting: “No order committing him to custody has ever been made, served on him or shown to him, and none could have been made, because he has never been brought before any court.” The committee had on Tuesday, August 4, announced that it would question Adeyemi at an undisclosed location while he remains in Police custody to avoid interfering with ongoing investigations by the Police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICP). Gagdi explained that the committee had invited Adeyemi, but was informed by the Police that he remained in custody pursuant to a court order, noting that the National Assembly would not act in a manner that undermines the judiciary or violates the principle of separation of powers, more so as it lacked the authority to override an existing court order directing Adeyemi’s detention. Earlier, a businessman and Managing Director of Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, Gbenga Collins, told the committee how he allegedly paid N400million to Adeyemi after being promised a government contract to renovate and furnish an official residence. Collins said he was convinced that Adeyemi was a genuine government official because he operated from an office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, used vehicles with federal government number plates and was surrounded by security personnel and visitors he described as dignitaries. He said he first met Adeyemi in December 2024 at a programme in their hometown, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, and Adeyemi subsequently invited him to Abuja around January/February 2025 to discuss a business opportunity. Collins disclosed that he was picked him up at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by an official vehicle, a Lexus SUV with a federal government registration number, and taken to Adeyemi’s office at the Federal Secretariat, where he met several people, including security personnel, and Adeyemi presented himself as the director general of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the PFIPC. Collins explained that Adeyemi subsequently told him an official residence had been allocated to him as director general and the property required renovation and furnishing, and offered Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited the contract to execute the contract. The businessman told the committee that Adeyemi personally took him to inspect the property the following day, and “told me that he wanted to do refurbishment and renovation of the official house assigned to him as the DG of that agency and asked whether I would be able to handle the contract. “He took me to the house to show me the property, because I slept in Abuja. We went there the following day with his staff. We went with more than four, five or six vehicles with security. They opened the house and took us round, showing me what they wanted to do.” He said he could not remember the exact location of the property, because he was unfamiliar with Abuja, but still had photographs of the building. Collins said discussions over the project continued after he returned to Ogbomoso until April 2025, when Adeyemi invited him back to Abuja. “He gave me the contract award letter, the scope of work and the agreement with my company to execute the refurbishment project. “I had to pay N400million for the facilitation of that project to show my strength, that I would be able to handle the project. “At the same time, he said it would fast-track the mobilisation for the contract.” Collins said he sourced the money from business associates who trusted his judgment, because he had personally visited Adeyemi’s office and was convinced that he was dealing with a legitimate federal government official. He explained that the N400 million was paid in five installments between May and July 2025, the first N100million on May 16, 2025, into an account held by World Entrepreneurs Limited at Guaranty Trust Bank, another N100million into the same account on May 22, another N100million on May 28, and yet another N80million on June 20, bringing the total amount paid into the World Entrepreneurs Limited account to N380million. The distraught businessman said he subsequently told Adeyemi that he could no longer raise more money immediately, having exhausted his resources at the time, and paid the remaining N20million on July 29, 2025, into an Access Bank account belonging to Sunshine Confectionery and Catering Services, bringing the total amount to N400 million. “When I was paying the money, I kept telling him that I collected the money from my colleagues who were doing business with me. “I was the one who told them I had gone to this man’s office, so I believed it was going to be a great opportunity for us. That was why people started giving me the money. “When I finished the payment, he said they were going to do the mobilisation by August,” he said, attributing the delay to security concerns, and subsequently promised that payment would be made in November. “I continued calling him. He kept managing me, telling me they were handling security issues and that they would pay in November,” he recalled. He noted that his several trips to trips to Abuja in an attempt to reach the purported DG were fruitless until he eventually stopped answering his calls; hence he sought legal advice in Abuja, saying: “My lawyer was the first person who told me that I had been scammed.” Collins subsequently petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on November 13, 2025, and was formally invited to adopt the petition six days later and the Commission commenced an investigation, inviting individuals connected to the bank accounts into which he had made the payments. “Since then, the EFCC has been trying to invite him. I think he has been sending his lawyer. According to the Investigating Police Officer handling the case, his lawyer kept saying he would appear,” he said. Collins appealled to the committee to intervene, saying the alleged transaction had left him financially distressed and damaged his business, adding: “I just want to beg the chairman and the members to help me talk to all the agencies involved, because I have been frustrated, especially by those people who gave me the money. “I have started selling my property. My business is not going well again.”
