The House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee probing the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council has come under growing pressure to widen its investigation by inviting Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, even as lawmakers ordered the Inspector-General of Police to produce the alleged promoter of the non-existent agency, Adeniyi Adeyemi, for questioning on Wednesday.
The calls intensified after the committee, on Monday, directed the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to produce Adeyemi before lawmakers on Wednesday to answer questions arising from testimonies already received from senior government officials.
The committee’s investigation has so far featured appearances by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack; Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu; Director of Banking Services at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Hamisu Abdullahi; Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi; and Assistant Commissioner of Police Bashir Abdullahi, who represented the Inspector-General of Police.
Adeyemi, who has been in police custody for more than two weeks, is expected to appear before the committee following Monday’s directive.
However, fresh questions were raised over why Gbajabiamila had not been invited to testify, despite Adeyemi’s alleged statements linking him to the attempted establishment of the council.
A source familiar with the committee’s proceedings told The PUNCH that lawmakers missed an opportunity to seek answers from the police on several key issues during Monday’s hearing.
“The IGP appeared today (Monday) through a representative, a senior police officer. Why did the committee fail to ask relevant questions?
