The PFIPC Puzzle: How Did a ‘Non-Existent’ Agency Get Approval to Recruit 300 Staff?
............Dalung demands answers after documents reportedly show approval for 300 staff recruitment despite government's claim the agency never existed.
By Passman Akpos
The controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) has taken a fresh turn following the emergence of documents reportedly showing that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved the recruitment of 300 personnel for the agency in 2025.
The latest claims, highlighted by former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Barrister Solomon Dalung, cite documents published by TheCable which allegedly reveal that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service granted a formal recruitment waiver to the PFIPC on August 7, 2025.
According to the reported documents, the approval was signed by Mimi Abu, Director of Organisation Design and Development, at a time when the Federal Government had placed an embargo on recruitment into the civil service. The waiver reportedly granted the PFIPC a special exemption to recruit 300 personnel across multiple cadres.
The approved positions allegedly included 10 Directors on Grade Level 17, 20 Assistant Directors on Grade Level 15, 45 Planning Officers, 32 Commercial Officers, 22 Investment Promotion Officers, 26 Accountants, 10 Legal Officers, procurement officers, programme analysts, information officers, statisticians, technical officers, confidential secretaries, drivers and several other categories of staff.
According to Dalung, one of the most striking portions of the document is a statement indicating that the approval was “based on and limited to the 2025 Approved Establishment position of the Agency.”
He argued that such wording raises serious questions about the Federal Government’s insistence that the PFIPC never legally existed.
“The letter also directed the agency to obtain Budget Office clearance before recruitment, comply with the Federal Character principle, reserve five per cent of positions for persons living with disabilities, allow officials of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service to monitor the exercise and submit the names of successful candidates for official records,” Dalung stated.
He questioned how such detailed administrative directives could have been issued to an organisation now described as fictitious.
Dalung further noted that barely 24 hours after the reported waiver was granted, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi publicly thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for approving the recruitment exercise. He also announced plans to establish PFIPC offices in all 36 states and 127 international offices worldwide.
While stressing that those additional claims require independent verification, Dalung maintained that the core issue remains unanswered.
“If the Presidency insists that the PFIPC was fabricated from beginning to end, how did a formal recruitment waiver emerge from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service? How did an agency said not to exist have an approved establishment upon which recruitment was authorised?” he asked.
He added that the involvement of institutions such as the Budget Office and the Federal Character Commission, as reflected in the reported correspondence, raises issues that deserve transparent clarification.
The development has generated widespread reactions on social media, with many Nigerians questioning whether one individual could have operated under the banner of a purported federal agency without official knowledge or approval. Others have called for an independent investigation into the matter and urged the Presidency to provide a comprehensive explanation.
As of the time of filing this report, the Presidency and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service had not publicly responded to the latest allegations contained in the reported documents.
The controversy continues to fuel debate over accountability, transparency and the processes governing the establishment and operation of federal agencies in Nigeria.
