The Senate, on Wednesday, rejected a request to launch an independent investigation into the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, insisting that the matter is already before the courts and under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
The controversy, which has dominated public discourse for over two weeks, centres on a purported federal agency that allegedly secured a ₦1.3bn allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act despite the Presidency maintaining that no such agency exists.
The renewed request was brought before the Senate by the lawmaker representing Kano South Senatorial District, Senator Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu, who had made a similar attempt last week without success.
Kawu again sought to have the upper chamber investigate how the budgetary provision was included in the 2026 budget, but the Senate declined.
Ruling on the request, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said the National Assembly could not investigate a matter already before a court of competent jurisdiction.
Akpabio also noted that President Bola Tinubu had directed the ICPC to investigate the controversy within 30 days, making a separate Senate probe unnecessary at this stage.
He said, “In my view, the issue has been overtaken by events, as the culprit has been charged to court. It is now sub judice to attempt to go into it again. Mr President has already directed an investigation.
“If we go into it now, we will probably be jumping the gun.”
Last week, Kawu argued that the Senate had a constitutional responsibility to scrutinise how the controversial allocation found its way into the national budget, irrespective of the executive’s investigation.
He said, “I commend Mr President. But he can’t do our work. We, as the National Assembly, are supposed to conduct our own investigation. My concern is about the budget.
“Who came to the National Assembly to defend the agency?”
His request was, however, rejected.
Following the Senate’s decision last week, the lawmaker told journalists that his concern was not about whether the agency existed but about safeguarding the integrity of the National Assembly’s appropriation process and establishing how the ₦1.3bn allocation was approved.
On Wednesday, he again attempted to raise the issue under Matters of Urgent Public Importance, but senators maintained their earlier position and declined to entertain the motion.
The controversy involves Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claims to be the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
Adeyemi, who has since been arrested by the police, is facing criminal charges over alleged impersonation and related offences.
He is also embroiled in a dispute with the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, after alleging that the presidential aide demanded a ₦400m bribe and sought 48 per cent of the agency’s proposed ₦27.4bn take-off grant.
The Presidency has denied the allegations against Gbajabiamila and insisted that the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council does not exist.
Despite this, the 2026 Appropriation Act contains a ₦1.3bn provision for the purported agency, covering both recurrent and capital expenditure.
President Tinubu subsequently directed the ICPC to investigate the circumstances surrounding the purported agency and the controversial budgetary allocation, with the anti-graft agency expected to submit its findings within 30 days.
