Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Esther Walson-Jack, has admitted that her office did not carry out sufficient due diligence before approving the staffing structure and recruitment waiver for the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).

Walson-Jack made the admission on Wednesday while appearing before the committee investigating the PFIPC controversy and the ₦1.3 billion allocated to the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

She explained that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service approved the requests after officials presented what appeared to be authentic establishment documents, including the council’s establishment Act and a letter appointing Adeniyi Adeyemi as director-general.

“My office received the letter of appointment and the establishment Act and, based on those documents and also based on the interaction with the representatives of the PEAC/PFIPC, we went on to issue the authorised establishment and later the recruitment waiver,” she said.

According to Walson-Jack, the documents were subsequently discovered to be forged, prompting her office to acknowledge shortcomings in its verification process.

“Having seen all the facts and observed all the documents, I concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in issuing the authorised establishment and recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC,” she said.

She noted that although the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) had previously functioned as an ad hoc body, a more thorough verification process could have uncovered the fraudulent documents much earlier.

“We take our responsibility, and we will definitely review our processes to make them more fraud-proof,” she added.

The PFIPC controversy has also drawn scrutiny to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President after Adeniyi Adeyemi claimed that his appointment letter was signed by Femi Gbajabiamila. The Chief of Staff has denied the claim, insisting the document was forged.

The Presidency had earlier declared the appointment letter fake, while Gbajabiamila petitioned security agencies to investigate the alleged forgery.

Adeyemi, who is accused of operating the controversial council, was arrested by operatives of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Osun State on July 14 as investigations into the matter continue.