Lucky Obukohwo Reporting
The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu and several senior government officials were listed as members of the council’s governing board.
The committee said the board includes the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike; the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); the Attorney-General of the Federation; and the ministers of Finance, Aviation, Agriculture and Food Security, Interior, Budget and National Planning, Marine and Blue Economy, Police Affairs, Transport, Works, and Power.
Chairman of the ad hoc committee, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, made the disclosure during the committee’s hearing on Thursday.
The revelation came as the committee questioned the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed, over the approval of seven vehicle number plates for the PFIPC despite what lawmakers described as apparent irregularities in the council’s application documents.
According to Gagdi, the FRSC should have probed further when the PFIPC submitted a document naming President Tinubu and other senior government officials as board members.
He also noted that the purported mandate submitted by the organisation to the FRSC lacked official government security features, yet was accepted as part of the verification process.
Responding, the FRSC boss said the corps complied with its standard operating procedures throughout the application process.
He disclosed that the FRSC received the council’s application on April 4, 2025, followed by a reminder dated April 11, both signed by Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi.
He explained that the application was accompanied by documents supporting the establishment of the council, detailing its mandate, governing structure and the vehicles for which official number plates were requested.
The Corps Marshal further stated that FRSC operatives checked the organisation’s website, which was hosted on a federal government domain, and visited the council’s office at the Federal Secretariat complex in Abuja.
He said that the website and office indicated the council was a legitimate government agency.
