CBN says PFIPC accounts were opened on accountant-general’s instruction

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has told the House of Representatives that it opened two domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) following a directive from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), contradicting earlier claims that no operational accounts existed.

The apex bank, however, clarified that although one account was opened in United States dollars and another in British pounds sterling, neither account was ever funded or put operation.

The CBN’s Director of Banking Services, Mr Abdullahi Hamisu, disclosed this on Monday while representing Governor Olayemi Cardoso before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee probing the legal status, operations and budgetary allocation of the PFIPC, including the N1.3 billion provided for the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

According to Hamisu, the CBN acted after receiving a formal instruction dated July 29, 2025, from the OAGF requesting the opening of accounts for the ‘Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.’

He explained that the bank followed its established account-opening procedures before creating the accounts.

Addressing lawmakers’ questions on whether the CBN sought evidence of an enabling law establishing the PFIPC before opening the accounts, Hamisu said the bank only acted on the mandate issued by the accountant-general’s office.

“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.

The CBN’s position comes amid conflicting accounts from the presidency and the OAGF over the existence of PFIPC-linked accounts at the apex bank.

On July 1, the presidency said police investigations showed that the embattled Director-General of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi, allegedly relied on forged documents to secure the opening of a CBN account by deceiving the OAGF.

In a statement issued by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the presidency also alleged that investigators uncovered 34 bank accounts linked to Adeyemi, including nine reportedly opened under entities identified as the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Public Private Partnership (FIPA-APP), as well as the FCT Investment Promotion Act.

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The OAGF, however, offered a different account. Its spokesperson, Bawa Mokwa, maintained that the PFIPC had no operational account with the CBN.

Mokwa said an application to open an account was submitted, but the process was never completed because the documentation required to activate the account was not provided.

The controversy surrounding the PFIPC surfaced publicly in June after the presidency distanced itself from the council, insisting it was not established by the Tinubu administration despite receiving a budget allocation in 2026, operating from an office within the Federal Secretariat and recruiting about 300 workers.

Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has also denied appointing Adeniyi Adeyemi to head the organisation.

Adeyemi has rejected the presidency’s position and urged President Tinubu to set up an independent panel to investigate the controversy.