The central bank said it opened the accounts on the instruction of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation for the disputed agency.
A file photo showing the CBN headquarters in Abuja. Photo: Channels TV/ Sodiq Adelakun
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it opened two accounts for the disputed ‘Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC)’ but noted that they never recorded inflows or remittances.
This is according to the Director of Banking Services at the CBN, Abdullahi Hamisu, who spoke during the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee probe of the PFIPC scandal.
According to him, the apex bank received instructions from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, mandating the CBN to open two accounts for the disputed agency.
“Like I said, the accounts have never been operated. As a result, there have not been any foreign exchange allocations to the council from CBN. There have not been any remittances into those two accounts. There have not been approvals because the authority has not been established for those who will operate the account,” Hamisu said on Monday.
“So, there was no transaction made to or by the council throughout the period: from August when it was opened till today when we generated the statement. The details of financial inflow – I think I’ve mentioned this. That’s the number three question. The account has maintained a zero balance from inception to date. The accounts have maintained zero balance from inception to date and have never recorded any inflow or outflow.
Detailing how the ‘PFIPC’ got an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria, he said, “On the 30th of July 2025, we received a mandate dated 29th July 2025 from the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation authorising the Central Bank of Nigeria to open accounts.
“On the 30th of July, 2025, we received the mandate, but the mandate has a date on it that is July 29, 2025, and I have submitted our response. A copy of the mandate is also attached to our response.
“So we received the mandate authorising us to open two accounts. One is a US dollar domiciliary account. The other one is a GBP domiciliary account for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
“Based on that mandate, we did the normal verification to confirm the genuineness of the mandate and also processed the account opening, and two accounts were actually opened (domiciliary): a dollar account and a pound sterling account for the Presidential Economic Advisory council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council wall summit.
“Usually, when we open the account, we also advise OAGF through a letter that this account has actually been opened so that he can inform the agency directly. So after opening this account, we did not receive any correspondence to collect signature mandate cards, or we were not introduced to who the authorising officers or the approving officers were. We were not introduced to that. Based on that, those accounts remain inactive with zero balance and have never been operated. Those two accounts have never been operated.”
His appearance at the committee follows the PFIPC controversy. Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man who paraded himself as the director-general of the agency, had claimed the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, issued him an appointment letter.
He also claimed to have paid money to the former lawmaker for the appointment.
But Gbajabiamila has denied the allegations and has filed a suit against Adeyemi, who was arrested in Osun State on July 14.
The presidency has also denied the existence of such a council and accused Adeyemi of forging the appointment letter.
