Fresh details have emerged in the House of Representatives’ investigation into the controversial Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
This follows revelations by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, that a letter allegedly forged in the name of the State House was used to obtain official government recognition for the body.
The disclosure was made on Monday during an investigative hearing by a House committee probing allegations surrounding the establishment and operations of the council.
Addressing members of the committee, Ogunjimi explained that the Office of the Accountant-General first came into contact with the council in November 2024 after receiving a letter that appeared to have originated from the State House.
According to him, the correspondence requested the creation of an administrative code for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council to enable budgeting, accounting and reporting activities.
He stated that the document carried a State House reference number and appeared authentic at the time it was received.
Based on standard government procedures, the Office of the Accountant-General processed the request and approved the creation of the administrative code.
The approval was subsequently communicated back to the State House, with the Office of the Auditor-General also copied in the correspondence.
Ogunjimi told lawmakers that after the administrative code was created, the office received several additional requests from the council.
These included applications for self-accounting status, deployment of personnel, opening of Treasury Single Account (TSA) facilities, domiciliary accounts and requests for funding.
Despite the volume of requests, he maintained that no public funds were ever released to the organisation.
“It is important to note that no funds were released under salaries, overhead, capital, or any form of intervention or special allocation to the council,” Ogunjimi told the committee.
The Accountant-General further revealed that the council had sought an establishment grant amounting to N27.4 billion. However, the request was not approved because there was no budgetary provision backing such funding.
He added that although two domiciliary accounts were opened by the Central Bank of Nigeria for inflow purposes, the accounts never became operational because the required regulatory conditions were not fulfilled.
The hearing took a dramatic turn when lawmakers sought clarification on how a body now under investigation was able to pass through several government processes without attracting suspicion.
Responding to questions from the committee, Ogunjimi disclosed that investigations later showed the letter that initiated the process did not originate from the Presidency as previously believed.
“The letter that was received by the Treasury… was respectfully addressed as coming from the State House,” he said.
“That letter was never issued by the State House.”
The revelation sparked concern among committee members, who described the document as a State House letter allegedly hijacked and used to deceive government institutions into granting recognition to a non-existent agency.
Lawmakers also questioned how government personnel became attached to the council without the knowledge of relevant authorities.
Providing an explanation, Ogunjimi said two officers deployed to the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President in 2010 and 2013 remained at the same location after the office was allegedly taken over by the new council.
According to him, the Office of the Accountant-General was never formally informed that the officers had become attached to another entity.
“It was never assumed or written to us that those two officers were being taken over,” he said.
“The staff also never reported to the office to say that another council had taken over the office and the name had changed.”
He added, “As far as I was concerned, we were dealing with a new agency, not the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser.”
The Accountant-General also disclosed that the council later requested the deployment of five additional personnel.
However, only three officers were approved because officials considered the organisation too small to require the number originally requested.
According to him, the true situation only became clear after investigations into the council commenced.
“It was when all this matter came to light that I got to know that two of our staff were actually working or being absorbed by the agency,” he said.
“We never knew. We believed, based on the records available to us, that those officers were still with the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser.”
The ongoing probe is focused on allegations that forged presidential approvals, fake State House documents and other questionable records were used to establish and operate the purported Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
The committee has already received evidence from the Nigeria Police Force, which informed lawmakers that criminal charges have been filed against the prime suspect, Adeyemi Martin, over allegations bordering on conspiracy and fraud.
As part of efforts to unravel the circumstances surrounding the case, the House committee has directed the Inspector-General of Police to produce Adeyemi before lawmakers on Wednesday.
He is expected to answer questions regarding the alleged forgery of official government documents and the operation of the controversial council.
