Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, says he was among those misled by the alleged activities of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which has since been disowned by the Presidency.
Gatekeepers News reports that Kalu made the disclosure on Wednesday during plenary while contributing to a motion calling for an investigation into the activities of the organisation.
The motion followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the purported council after reports emerged that it had presented itself as a Federal Government agency.
Supporting the motion, Kalu said his office granted officials of the organisation access after receiving what appeared to be an authentic letter from the Presidency.
“I was a victim of this crime,” he said.
“And I’m sure if you watched the news, you saw my picture all over the screen. My picture was made the trend, standing side by side with the purported DG of this organisation.”
According to the deputy speaker, his office received a letter dated May 2, 2025, bearing the Presidency’s logo, the name of the disputed council, an address at the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja and the domain name pfipc.gov.ng.
He said the documents initially appeared credible, prompting his team to verify the address before he approved a meeting with the delegation.
“When I saw this, it was a bit confusing for me. Some of the information looked credible, some did not,” Kalu said.
“I sent my team to verify the existence of this organisation at the stated address. They came back confirming that the organisation was there. I then approved the meeting.”
Kalu explained that the group had requested discussions on constitutional amendment, economic governance, legislative priorities and collaboration to attract foreign investment.
However, he said the meeting took an unexpected turn as the visitors focused primarily on taking photographs instead of discussing the issues outlined in their correspondence.
“When they came, they did not talk about the constitution amendment or the issues they listed in the letter. They were more about photo taking,” he said.
“I looked at the quality of the men before me and questioned whether they were truly engaged by the president.”
The deputy speaker said the incident demonstrated that official-looking documents and government office addresses could no longer be accepted as proof of legitimacy.
“This goes to show that a beautiful letterhead carrying the Presidency is no longer confirmation that an agency is legal,” he said.
“It goes to show that an address at the Federal Secretariat does not mean that a particular agency is legal.
“It is our duty to dig deeper into this matter. I encourage members to support this motion so Nigerians will see that we stand for transparency and accountability in governance.”
Kalu urged the House to investigate how the purported organisation gained access to government facilities, interacted with senior public officials and allegedly secured a place in the federal budget.
