A Director-General in Search of an Agency

Meet the curious case of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), a purported agency reportedly allocated about N1.3 billion in the 2026 federal budget and granted office space at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja. The Presidency, however, said it never established or authorised the organisation.

Its alleged director-general, Adeniyi Adeyemi, has faced charges including forgery and impersonation. He has pleaded not guilty. The allegations remain to be proved in court.

But the bigger question deserves attention. How does an organisation reportedly acquire the trappings of officialdom before its legitimacy is properly established?

Consider the Nigerian entrepreneur who must produce certificates, registration documents, tax records and references to convince a bank that a legitimate business exists. Meanwhile, this purported agency reportedly secured an office and a budget allocation.

Of course, a budget allocation does not mean the money was actually released. Still, the administrative questions are difficult to ignore.

Perhaps Nigeria needs a new public-sector performance indicator: the number of institutions whose existence has been independently verified.

After all, a letterhead does not confer authority. A signboard does not establish legitimacy. And a man introduced as director-general does not automatically become one because somebody provides him with an office.

Unpopular Pele verdict: Before government agencies receive directors, offices and budget lines, somebody should establish that they actually exist.

Otherwise, the next reform initiative might be the Verification of Existence Initiative. Just one condition: confirm that the initiative itself exists before allocating money to it.