ICPC widens fake agency probe, charges four govt officials

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has joined four serving civil servants in the prosecution of the alleged Director-General of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, Adeniyi Adeyemi, over an alleged corruption scandal involving government offices, official vehicles and recruitment approvals.

The four public officers were joined as co-defendants in an amended 36-count charge filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where the ICPC accused them of corruptly receiving gratification from Adeyemi to facilitate the operations of what it described as a “fake/non-existing agency.”

The new defendants are Aminu Abdullahi, an Assistant Chief Technical Officer at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Ogaba Harry, a Chief Accountant in the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President; Florence Omameh, an officer in the Inspectorate Department of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation; and Patricia Akhigbe, an Assistant Director in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

Adeyemi, the first defendant, is facing allegations bordering on forgery, use of forged documents, personation of a public servant, obtaining money by false pretences and giving gratification to public officers.

In Counts 23 and 24 of the amended charge, marked CR/415/26, the ICPC alleged that Abdullahi received N4.002m in four instalments through his bank accounts for allocating government offices to Adeyemi at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.

The commission alleged that the payments were made for “allocating to him, and forcibly opening for his use, government offices” without the approval of the Permanent Secretary or the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Harry was accused in Count 26 of receiving N560,000 in six instalments between February 2025 and April 2026 for granting Adeyemi access to offices previously occupied by the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

The ICPC further alleged that Harry released two official vehicles, a Prado Jeep and a Land Cruiser Jeep, to Adeyemi “without official authorisation.”

Similarly, Omameh was charged in Count 28 with allegedly receiving N250,000 in three instalments into her account over an inspection she conducted on March 25, 2025, at the council’s premises.

The commission said the payment was made “on account of the inspection conducted by her” for the purpose of granting the purported agency provisional self-accounting status.

Akhigbe faces three counts bordering on alleged receipt of gratification, personation and criminal conspiracy.

In Count 30, the ICPC alleged that she received N1.1m in four instalments for facilitating the processing of an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver for the council, as well as submitting its documents to the Budget Office of the Federation for inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation.

The commission accused her in Count 31 of pretending to be the Head of Human Resources of the council, despite the fact that her secondment had not been approved by her ministry.

In Count 32, she and Adeyemi were jointly charged with conspiracy to use forged documents to obtain an establishment and recruitment waiver for the purported agency.

The prosecution, in its proof of evidence, said its witnesses would explain “how the 2nd to 5th defendants corruptly received gratification from the 1st defendant” to facilitate his access to government offices and vehicles, secure self-accounting status, obtain an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver, and ensure the inclusion of the purported agency in the 2026 Appropriation.

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On the alleged occupation of government offices, the ICPC said a witness would testify that “no office space in the Federal Secretariat complexes was ever allocated to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.”

Another witness was expected to tell the court that he “witnessed the second defendant forcibly enter and change the locks of eight offices” belonging to the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President in 2025 for Adeyemi’s use.

Regarding Harry’s alleged involvement, the prosecution said a witness would testify that he held the keys to the offices and two official vehicles but “no authority was given to him to hand over the offices or the vehicles to the 1st defendant.”

The commission also detailed the circumstances surrounding the alleged payment to Omameh.

According to the evidence, a prosecution witness and Omameh inspected the council’s premises on March 25, 2025, and discovered that the nominal roll had only five officers with IPPIS numbers out of 39 listed staff members.

The witness was expected to testify that Adeyemi subsequently offered them money, collected his account details and transferred N50,000 to him.

The ICPC said the council was eventually granted provisional self-accounting status on May 27, 2025, “on the strength of their report.”

On Akhigbe, the prosecution said a witness from the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning would testify that “no secondment or posting of her to the council was ever approved.”

Another witness was expected to identify her as one of the council’s representatives who appeared at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and presented her as its Head of Human Resources.

The commission also alleged that the purported agency was included in the authorised establishment approved on July 18, 2025, and subsequently obtained a recruitment waiver.

Meanwhile, Adeyemi was separately accused of giving N700,000 to Ibrahim Abdulkadir, a Deputy Director in the OSGF, who is listed as a prosecution witness and not a defendant.

The ICPC listed 43 witnesses it intended to call in the trial, including the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

It also listed the defendants’ statements made under caution and bank records among the documents it intended to tender as exhibits.

The charge sheet did not indicate a date for the defendants’ arraignment or record their pleas.

The defendants have yet to be convicted of the allegations and are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.