The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday said it had opened two foreign currency domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.

This is as the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, appeared at the headquarters of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to testify in the ongoing investigation into the activities of the fictitious agency.

The apex bank’s admission came at the public hearing convened at the National Assembly Complex by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the existence and operations of the PFIPC, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

Monday’s hearing revealed critical gaps in the bureaucratic processes that allowed the fictitious agency to obtain the functional perks accorded to real government agencies.

Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said the accounts, one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

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“On July 30, 2025, we received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General. We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.

He explained the CBN’s verification process, saying, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.

“The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.

“We did not receive any correspondence, mandate, signature or mandate cards. We were not introduced to the authorising or approving officers.

“Based on that, those accounts remain inactive, with zero balance. There have been no foreign exchange allocations.

“The accounts have maintained zero balance from inception to date and have never recorded any inflow or outflow,” Ibrahim said, adding that a statement of account had been attached to the committee’s records.

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However, the CBN’s account directly contradicted an earlier submission by Accountant-General Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, who had claimed that no accounts were opened in the PFIPC’s name.

In his ruling after the day’s hearing, committee chairman Gagdi asked the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, and other top government functionaries to appear before the panel on Thursday.

He stated, “In continuation of this assignment, the secretariat should invite the SGF to appear and brief this committee on the issues raised.

“Also to appear on Thursday are the Inspector-General of Police, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice as well as the Minister of Budget and National Planning.”

“Also invited are the Accountant-General of the Federation, heads of the Budget Office of the Federation, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.”