HoS Exposes Irregularities In PFIPC Documents As Reps Probe Begins
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has distanced itself from the establishment and operations of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council as the House of Representatives continued its investigation into the bodies’ alleged creation without a valid legal framework.
The HoS made the disclosures on Monday while appearing before the House Ad-hoc Committee probing the councils’ legal status and operations.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, told the committee that her office had no constitutional responsibility for establishing government agencies, explaining that its role was limited to approving the administrative structures of federal agencies.
“The approval and establishment of agencies is not within the purview of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. However, the OHCSF is responsible for approving the administrative structure of federal government agencies,” a representative of the office told lawmakers.
The official disclosed that the council applied for approval of its organisational structure on August 6, 2025, but the request was declined because it failed to provide the required supporting documents.
“From our records, the council submitted a request to the OHCSF for approval of its organisational structure on the 6th of August, 2025, without providing the requisite documents. Consequently, the request was not granted,” the representative said.
The OHCSF, however, confirmed that officials of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council sought an establishment and recruitment waiver during the 2025 annual manpower budget defence.
According to the office, the council stated that it had been operating mainly with personnel deployed or seconded from other government institutions and later requested approval for 314 positions, comprising 14 existing staff and 300 additional positions.
The office also informed lawmakers that it later discovered irregularities in the documents presented by the council as its legal basis.
“It was observed that the document presented by the council as its enabling law or legal instrument did not really carry the requisite features,” the representative said.
Walson-Jack also denied claims that her office deployed civil servants to the council or allocated office accommodation to it.
“We wish to state that there was no deployment of staff by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to the council,” she said, adding that issues relating to the establishment and supervision of the council were the responsibility of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and other relevant institutions.
