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The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Esther Walson-Jack, has denied allocating office space to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), sparking fresh controversy over the council's existence. According to a statement made by Walson-Jack before the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee probing the PFIPC scandal, her office did not allocate office space at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja nor deploy staff to the council.
And according to Walson-Jack, while there is speculation that the council occupied office space in the Federal Secretariat Phase Three, she insisted that "we can state categorically that the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation did not allocate any office space to the PFIPC". She further stated that her office did receive a request from the council requesting the deployment of officers, but no deployment was made.
But Walson-Jack revealed that the PFIPC had approached her office requesting the approval of its organisational structure. However, the request was turned down because the council did not submit the necessary documents. Meanwhile, remuneration and emoluments of personnel are not under the purview of the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, but under the purview of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.
According to her, new organisations must provide either an establishment Act or other valid documents establishing their existence before such demands are processed. She told the committee that at the 2025 annual workforce projection and human resources event, PFIPC officials said they were participating and operating with personnel seconded from other government agencies.
And Walson-Jack said the agency also submitted copies of its 'director-general's appointment letter' and documents indicating that it had a budget code. Her comment comes amid the PFIPC controversy, which has seen Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man who paraded himself as the director-general of the agency, claim that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, issued him an appointment letter.
The presidency has denied the existence of such a council and accused Adeyemi of forging the appointment letter. But Adeyemi was arrested in Osun State on July 14, and Gbajabiamila has filed a suit against him.