The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Esther Didi Walson-Jack, has admitted before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged illegal creation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council that her office failed to carry out adequate due diligence before issuing key approvals to the purported agency.
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Walson-Jack made the admission during the committee’s hearing on the alleged creation of the PEAC/PFIPC without legal backing, even as the lawmakers said they had uncovered a web of forged and fake documents allegedly used to secure official government approvals.
Appearing before the committee, the Head of Service acknowledged that her office relied on documents later discovered to be fake in granting authorised establishment and recruitment waiver to the purported agency.
“We now, having seen all the facts and observed all the documents, concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in discharge of the duties of the office in issuing an authorised establishment and a recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC,” she told the lawmakers.
She explained that officials of the purported agency appeared before her office during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence, presenting themselves as representatives of a newly established federal body.
According to her, they came with what appeared to be an Establishment Act and a letter appointing a Director-General.
Walson-Jack said under established civil service procedure, newly created agencies seeking to recruit staff are expected to submit an enabling Act, the appointment letter of the chief executive and other supporting documents before an authorised establishment and provisional recruitment waiver can be issued.
She said her office processed the request based on the documents presented, describing the matter as unprecedented in the history of the Federal Civil Service.
“In over almost a century of the Federal Civil Service, we have never encountered a situation like the current one. Criminals always try to be a step ahead of law enforcement,” she said.
However, when questioned by the committee, Walson-Jack admitted that the Establishment Act submitted by the purported agency was not authentic.
“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,” she said.
She also acknowledged observing discrepancies in the appointment letter purportedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President after comparing it with genuine official correspondence.
“I’m not a forensic expert, but I can clearly see that the signatures are not the same,” she stated.
The committee chairman disclosed that forensic analysis by the Nigeria Police had confirmed that the signatures on the documents were entirely different.
“The police forensic department has already analysed the signatures and confirmed that those signatures are not the same. In fact, according to them, there was not even an attempt to imitate the signature,” the chairman said.
He said the committee’s findings showed that the appointment letter was fake and that the purported Act establishing the agency was equally fabricated.
“You have clearly stated that you acted on false documents. You have now established, just like we have, that the letter of appointment of the so-called DG is not only forged, it is fake.
“If something is forged, there will be an attempt to imitate the signature. But in this case, the signatures are completely different. So I will not call it forged; I will say it is fake,” the chairman declared.
The committee further alleged that the fake Establishment Act lacked all the mandatory features of a valid Act of the National Assembly, including citation numbers, Supreme Court numbers, Gazette numbers and Gazette titles.
“Our Acts have citation numbers, Supreme Court numbers, Gazette numbers and Gazette titles. The Act presented here has none of those features,” the chairman said.
Despite admitting lapses, Walson-Jack maintained that the approvals were processed in line with existing procedures based on the documents presented to her office.
“Everything was done in accordance with the practice in the office. Out of the 88 ministries, departments and agencies processed, we are really surprised that we were unable to detect that PEAC/PFIPC had actually given us a false Establishment Act and what has now been proved to be a false letter of appointment,” she said.
She, however, pledged that her office would review its procedures to prevent a recurrence.
“We take full responsibility and we will definitely review our processes to make them more fraud-proof,” Walson-Jack said.
The committee also questioned officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over the issuance of an administrative code to the purported agency.
A former Director, Consolidation Account, and Director, Federal Projects, Mr. Joshua Patmi Luka, said his office received what appeared to be an official request from the State House for an administrative code for the agency.
He explained that the response was addressed to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and not directly to the purported agency, as part of due diligence.
“As part of our due diligence, what we did was to convey the administrative code to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and not to the so-called agency. The idea was that if it was not genuine, the whole thing would be unravelled,” he said.
The committee, however, faulted the process after evidence showed that the response letter never reached the Permanent Secretary but was allegedly collected by the purported Director-General of the fake agency.
The chairman said investigations revealed that the Directorate of Administration and Support Services referenced in the correspondence did not exist within the State House.
“There is no Directorate of Administration and Support Services in the State House. That office does not exist,” he said.
He accused the officials of allowing the suspect to intercept official correspondence meant for the Permanent Secretary.
“You allowed the fraudulent DG to come and pick the letter from your office instead of allowing someone from the Permanent Secretary’s office to receive it. If the letter had reached the Permanent Secretary, the fraud would have been unravelled immediately,” the chairman said.
Responding, Luka insisted that the lapse was not institutional but the fault of an individual officer responsible for dispatching the correspondence.
“The problem here was not an office lapse, it was an individual lapse. Somebody was supposed to deliver that letter to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and it was not delivered there,” he said.
The committee maintained that the evidence before it showed a coordinated use of fake appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents and fictitious State House offices to obtain official government approvals and enter budgetary processes.
It said its final report would detail its findings and recommendations after the investigation is concluded.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, National Cybercrime Centre, Olufemi Akinola, also informed the committee that the purported Director-General of the agency, Prince Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, could not be produced because he remained in lawful custody under a subsisting court order.
The ad-hoc committee had on Monday ordered the IGP to produce Adeyemi before it on Tuesday.
However, the police said any production of the suspect would require an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.
“The Nigerian Police Force may not be able to produce a suspect as requested in view of the subsisting warrant. The Nigerian Police Force remains committed to cooperate with the committee in the discharge of its mandate.
“However, in this case, it will be appreciated if the reproduction warrant could be sought from the court of competent jurisdiction to enable police comply with this request,” the police representative said.
The public hearing was marked by tense exchanges between the committee and senior government officials, with the chairman repeatedly questioning witnesses on the documents, approvals and procedures that allowed the purported agency to receive official recognition.
The committee said it would conclude the clarification stage of its investigation before presenting its preliminary findings to the public next week, ahead of the submission of its final report to the House of Representatives when lawmakers resume from recess.
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