Headlines: PFIPC Probe: Head Of Civil Service Admits Due Diligence Failed, Accepts Responsibility

Headlines:
PFIPC Probe: Head Of Civil Service Admits Due Diligence Failed, Accepts Responsibility

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, said that her office relied on documents that appeared authentic without subjecting them to sufficient verification.

Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack
Walson-Jack (R) said that her office relied on documents that appeared authentic without subjecting them to sufficient verification. (Photo: Benny Ark/Channels TV)

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has admitted that due diligence was not thoroughly carried out in the process that led to the recognition of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.

She accepted responsibility for the lapse, saying her office relied on documents that appeared authentic without subjecting them to sufficient verification.

Walson-Jack made the admission while appearing before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the alleged operation of the purported council.

She told lawmakers that her office had no reason to doubt the documents at the time because they bore the State House logo and what appeared to be a familiar signature.

However, the HoSF said subsequent comparisons with genuine State House correspondence, backed by police forensic findings, confirmed that the signatures were different.

She, however, assured the committee that her office would review its internal verification procedures to make them more robust and fraud-proof.

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Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, has told the committee that the self-acclaimed Director-General of the purported council, Mr. Adeniyi Adeyemi, could not appear before the lawmakers due to a subsisting court order.

Disu, who was represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police Olufemi Akinola, said Adeyemi could only appear upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

Following the submission, the committee adjourned further sitting on the matter until next week.

Adeyemi had alleged during a press briefing that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, demanded 48 per cent from the PFIPC’s ₦27.3 billion takeoff grant.

He had also alleged that the Chief of Staff received ₦400 million through a proxy and requested an additional ₦200 million to facilitate presidential approvals.

But Gbajabiamila denied the allegations, maintaining that he had no personal, official or professional relationship with Adeyemi.

He also denied demanding or receiving any money, just as he denied any involvement in the alleged death of Babatunde Tanimola, whom Adeyemi claimed acted as an intermediary, as well as allegations linking him to an alleged assassination attempt on the defendant or interference with investigations by security agencies.

Following the allegations, President Bola Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter.

Amid the outrage generated by the issue, the House of Representatives inaugurated a 12-member ad hoc committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the disputed agency and the process through which it was included in the 2026 budget.

The committee is also investigating the alleged allocation of ₦1.3 billion to the agency in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

During his appearance, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, told the committee that no kobo appropriated for the disputed agency was spent.

He said that while the National Assembly approved funds for the council, the statutory conditions required to release, pay, or spend the money were never met.