Apex bank tells lawmakers it created two domiciliary accounts for the controversial council on the directive of the Accountant-General’s office, insisting neither account received any funds…..
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed that it opened two domiciliary accounts linked to the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), but maintained that neither account was ever funded or put into operation.
The disclosure was made on Monday during the ongoing House of Representatives investigation into the legal status, activities and budgetary allocation of the disputed council, which received N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Appearing before the House ad hoc committee on behalf of CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, the bank’s Director of Banking Services, Abdullahi Hamisu, said the accounts were opened following a formal directive from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).
According to him, the CBN received the request on July 29, 2025, to establish two domiciliary accounts one in United States dollars and the other in British pounds sterling for the “Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.”
Hamisu told lawmakers that the apex bank followed its standard account-opening procedures before creating the accounts.
When questioned about whether the CBN requested an enabling law establishing the council before acting on the request, Hamisu said that was not part of the bank’s account-opening requirements.
“We don’t ask for an enabling Act. We received a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to open the accounts for the council,” he said.
He, however, stressed that despite the accounts being opened, they remained inactive throughout their existence, with no deposits made and no transactions carried out.
The clarification comes amid conflicting claims by government agencies over the existence and financial operations of the PFIPC.
On July 1, the Presidency alleged that investigations by the Nigeria Police Force uncovered forged documents allegedly used by Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as the Director-General of the PFIPC, to facilitate the opening of a CBN account through the Office of the Accountant-General.
In a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency also alleged that police investigations uncovered 34 bank accounts linked to Adeyemi, including nine reportedly opened in the names of fictitious government agencies such as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Public Private Partnership (FIPA-APP).
However, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had maintained a different position.
Its Director of Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa, said while an application to open an account for the PFIPC was received, the process was never completed because the documents required to activate the account were not submitted.
The PFIPC controversy first came to public attention in June after the Presidency declared that the council was not a recognised agency under the Tinubu administration, despite having an allocation in the 2026 budget, an office within the Federal Secretariat and reports that it had recruited about 300 personnel.
Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has also denied appointing Adeniyi Adeyemi as head of the council, rejecting claims that his office issued the appointment letter.
Adeyemi has continued to challenge that position, insisting his appointment was legitimate and calling on President Bola Tinubu to constitute an independent panel to investigate the matter.
