The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Esther Didi Walson-Jack, has admitted that her office did not carry out sufficient due diligence before approving recruitment-related requests linked to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Walson-Jack made the admission on Wednesday in Abuja while appearing before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating allegations that the two bodies were created without legal backing.
The committee said its investigation had uncovered what it described as a network of fake documents allegedly used to obtain official government approvals.
Addressing lawmakers, the HCSF acknowledged that her office relied on documents later found to be false when granting an authorized establishment and recruitment waiver to the purported agency.
She explained that officials who represented the agency appeared during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence with what seemed to be an Establishment Act and a letter appointing a Director-General.
According to her, civil service procedures require newly created agencies seeking recruitment approval to present an enabling Act, the appointment letter of the chief executive and other supporting documents.
Walson-Jack said the request was processed based on the documents submitted, describing the situation as unprecedented in the history of the Federal Civil Service.
Under questioning, however, she admitted that the Establishment Act presented was not genuine.
Drawing on her nearly 30 years of legal practice, she said she immediately recognized that the document was not an authentic Act after personally reviewing it.
She also said the appointment letter purportedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President contained signatures that did not match genuine official correspondence.
The committee chairman disclosed that forensic analysis by the Nigeria Police had confirmed that the signatures were completely different and that there was not even an attempt to imitate the original signature.
Lawmakers further stated that the purported Establishment Act lacked mandatory features of a valid National Assembly law, including citation numbers, Gazette numbers and Gazette titles.
Despite the lapses, Walson-Jack maintained that the approvals were granted in line with existing procedures and said her office was surprised that the false documents were not detected among requests processed from 88 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
She pledged reforms to strengthen the system, saying the Civil Service would review its processes to make them more resistant to fraud.
The committee also questioned officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over the issuance of an administrative code to the purported agency.
Former Director of Consolidation Account and Director of Federal Projects, Mr. Joshua Patmi Luka, said his office received what appeared to be an official request from the State House and sent the administrative code to the Permanent Secretary rather than directly to the agency.
However, the committee said evidence showed that the letter never reached the Permanent Secretary and was instead collected by the alleged fake Director-General.
Lawmakers also said investigations revealed that the Directorate of Administration and Support Services mentioned in the correspondence does not exist in the State House.
Luka argued that the failure was not institutional but the fault of an individual officer responsible for delivering the correspondence.
The committee insisted that the evidence pointed to a coordinated use of fake appointment letters, fabricated legislative documents and fictitious State House offices to obtain official approvals and enter budgetary processes.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, represented by DCP Olufemi Akinola of the NPF National Cybercrime Centre, told the committee that the alleged Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Matthew Adeyemi, could not be produced because he is in lawful custody under a subsisting court order.
Police said any production of the suspect would require a fresh order from a court of competent jurisdiction.
The hearing was marked by several tense exchanges between lawmakers and senior government officials.
The committee said it would complete the clarification stage of the investigation and present preliminary findings to the public next week, before submitting its final report to the House of Representatives after lawmakers resume from recess.
