The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Esther Walson-Jack, has denied claims that her office allocated office space or deployed personnel to the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Appearing before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the PFIPC controversy and the N1.3 billion appropriated to the agency in the 2026 budget, Walson-Jack said her office never approved the council’s operations.
She explained that although the PFIPC requested the deployment of civil servants, the application was only acknowledged and was never approved.
“The request for deployment of officers was received and noted for consideration. However, there was no deployment of officers by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to the council,” she said.
Walson-Jack also dismissed reports that the council was allocated office space at the Federal Secretariat Phase Three in Abuja.
“While there is speculation that the council occupied office space in the Federal Secretariat Phase Three, we can state categorically that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation did not allocate any office space to the PFIPC,” she added.
According to her, the council approached her office seeking approval for its organisational structure, but the request was rejected because it failed to provide the required documentation.
She said there was also no record of any request for approval of the agency’s conditions of service, stressing that issues relating to staff salaries and emoluments fall under the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, while the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission is responsible for determining the remuneration of political office holders and chief executives.
Walson-Jack explained that any newly established government agency must first present a valid establishment Act or other legal instruments confirming its creation before requests for staffing or organisational approvals can be processed.
She further disclosed that during the 2025 Annual Workforce Projection and Human Resources Planning exercise, PFIPC representatives informed her office that the council was operating with officials seconded from other government agencies.
According to her, the agency later requested an approved establishment structure and a recruitment waiver, claiming that 14 personnel were already working with the organisation.
She, however, emphasised that recruitment and placement of employees are the responsibility of individual agencies, not the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Walson-Jack added that the PFIPC submitted what it described as its director-general’s appointment letter, along with documents indicating it had been assigned a budget code.
Her testimony comes amid investigations into the controversial agency, whose purported director-general, Adeniyi Adeyemi, allegedly claimed he was appointed by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, and paid money to secure the position.
Gbajabiamila has denied the allegation and filed a lawsuit against Adeyemi, who was arrested in Osun State on July 14.
The Presidency has also disowned the PFIPC, insisting that no such agency exists and accusing Adeyemi of forging the appointment letter.
