Gbenga Collins told the House of Representatives on Tuesday that he paid ₦400 million to Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as the director-general of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, after being promised a government renovation contract in Abuja.
How a Purported Government Council Built an Illusion of Legitimacy
Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi managed to convince business executives and others that he headed a legitimate executive agency. Operating from an office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, Adeyemi surrounded himself with police officers and used official vehicles bearing federal government registration numbers, creating a facade of state authority.
That veneer of legitimacy extended to the office. According to testimony presented before the House Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, the council’s operations drew attention from state institutions.
The ₦400 Million Contract Facilitation Trap
Gbenga Collins, managing director of Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, first encountered Adeyemi in December 2024 during a programme in their hometown of Ogbomoso, Oyo State. Invitations to Abuja followed in January or February 2025, where Collins was met at the airport by a Lexus SUV outfitted with federal government plates and taken straight to the Federal Secretariat.
Once inside the bureaucratic hub, Adeyemi offered Collins’s agribusiness firm a contract to renovate and furnish an official residence assigned to him as director-general. After an on-site inspection tour involving multiple vehicles and security personnel, Collins received a formal contract award letter, a scope of work, and an official agreement.
To secure mobilisation and demonstrate financial strength, Collins was instructed to pay ₦400 million. Sourcing funds from business associates who trusted his judgment, Collins disbursed the money across five separate instalments between May and July 2025.
Institutional Lapses
Lawmakers investigating the PFIPC’s ₦1.3 billion budgetary allocation have heard admissions from senior civil servants regarding how the fraud bypassed internal checks. The Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Esther Walson-Jack, previously told the committee that due diligence was lacking when vetting documentation, staffing structures, and recruitment waivers for the agency.
Secret Legislative Interrogation and Ongoing Criminal Probes
The legislative inquiry has encountered procedural roadblocks regarding direct access to the principal suspect. The House ad hoc committee had asked the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, to produce Adeyemi for questioning, but the request was declined. Police authorities cited an existing court order holding Adeyemi in custody, stating he would not be released without a specific judicial warrant.
Addressing the public hearing, Gagdi announced that the committee would respect the court order and conduct its interrogation of Adeyemi in a private, unannounced setting. Committee leaders emphasized that broadcasting the suspect’s testimony under cameras could compromise active criminal investigations being conducted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Adeyemi remains detained following his arrest on July 14 by the Police Intelligence Response Team in Osun State. That arrest came shortly after presidential Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila filed a ₦15 billion defamation suit against Adeyemi, who had alleged that Gbajabiamila issued his appointment letter—an allegation the Chief of Staff has firmly denied.
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