It is now clear how shocking, sophisticated, and embarrassing the fraud allegedly perpetrated by the disowned Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, was, and how it penetrated the highest hierarchy of the Nigerian civil service.
It is also likely that some collaborators within the system colluded with or enabled Mr Adeyemi to commit the alleged fraud. However, the police investigation into the matter failed to link any individual in government or the civil service to Mr Adeyemi or his alleged fraud.
After a careful review of the entire saga, PREMIUM TIMES can now identify civil servants and agencies that signed letters that helped Mr Adeyemi secure a CBN account, a budget code, an office space at the federal secretariat, the deployment of staff and several other perks reserved only for legitimate government entities and officials.
The letters processed by these senior officials on behalf of Mr Adeyemi’s PFIPC have cast doubt on their competence, diligence, commitment to duty, and judgment. They also raised questions about how these senior civil servants verify the requests they receive before processing them.
While these letters are listed as exhibits in the Nigerian government’s lawsuit against Mr Adeyemi, the police investigation report seen by this newspaper shows that the police have not interrogated any of the individuals who approved, processed, and signed these letters on behalf of their respective agencies. Meanwhile, they are accessories to letters that helped Mr Adeyemi and the PFIPC penetrate the highest level and innermost recesses of the Nigerian civil service.
