FRSC Confirms Tinubu, Ministers Listed on Fake PFIPC Board Website
FRSC Confirms Tinubu, Ministers Listed on Fake PFIPC Board Website
Shehu Mohammed, the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), informed the House of Representatives that President Bola Tinubu and various members of the Federal Executive Council appeared on a website claiming to be the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC).
Mohammed shared this information on Thursday while speaking before the House Ad-hoc Committee that is looking into the alleged existence of fake government councils in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The committee, led by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, questioned the FRSC about its choice to issue official Federal Government number plates for seven vehicles that were reportedly bought by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew, who is currently in police custody regarding this issue.
During the hearing, Gagdi criticized the FRSC for not verifying if the council was real before allowing the registration.
“We aim to uncover these issues so agencies can fix these problems. You saw a mandate without any government security features. You also noticed President Bola Tinubu listed as Board Chairman along with the SGF, Head of Service, CBN Governor, and several ministers. Did all this seem normal to you?” Gagdi asked.
In response, the FRSC Corps Marshal simply replied, “No.”
Mohammed clarified that the agency processed the application after what it thought was a proper review.
He mentioned that the request was made on what looked like the official letterhead of a Federal Government agency. The required registration fees were paid into the Federal Government Treasury using the REMITA platform.
He also noted that Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi came to the FRSC Headquarters in person and introduced himself as the Director-General of the council.
The Corps Marshal added that officers checked the website linked in the application.
“The website had a Federal Government domain and included information matching that of a real Federal Government institution, featuring names of well-known public officials as members of its Governing Board,” he explained. Mohammed said both applications included documents that supposedly established the agency, detailed its mission, and listed vehicles for registration.
Even though he initially claimed that the Corps took extra care because the request came from what was described as a newly formed Federal Government agency, Mohammed later acknowledged that their verification process was lacking.
“This is an isolated case where we did not perform enough due diligence. That is why we are improving our internal processes,” he stated.
The FRSC has started taking action to recover all official government number plates that were given to the fake agency and has put in place stricter checks to stop this from happening again.
Documents presented to the committee showed that the FRSC approved official number plates for seven vehicles that supposedly belong to the council. These included: A 2024 Lexus LX bulletproof armored SUV, a 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Twin Turbo, 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Twin Turbo, One Toyota Hilux GR, Three Toyota Hilux Adventure pickup trucks.
Mohammed insisted that all chassis numbers provided were physically checked before they were registered.
During his testimony, Abdulkadir Idris, who is the Director of Administration and represented the Permanent Secretary (Administration) at the State House, said that all documents claiming to be from the Presidency supporting the council were fake.
He pointed out that no one named Akanbi Adewale had ever served as Permanent Secretary (Administration), which contradicts what was written on the documents sent to government agencies.
Idris also mentioned that the Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre had examined the records and confirmed there was no such official.
He also mentioned that the State House did not ask the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to set up a budget code for the council.
“We have no knowledge of this council. We only heard about it after it became public,” he stated.
Idris pointed out that the fake State House letterheads looked very different from the real ones, especially because they included a phone number that official letterheads do not have.
He criticized government agencies for processing these documents without first checking their validity with the Presidency.
The committee’s chairman, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, announced that the investigation will continue on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, and all relevant agencies are expected to attend.
He added that this upcoming session should be the committee’s last public hearing before lawmakers start putting together their report and recommendations.
Credit X| the daily Times
