The President and Convener of the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance, Ogaku Dominic, has warned that concluding the House of Representatives’ probe into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) without hearing from key individuals linked to the case would politicise the investigation and weaken public confidence in its outcome.
Speaking during an interview with Arise News on Thursday, Dominic assessed the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, arguing that the parliamentary probe alone was insufficient to uncover the full extent of the alleged fraud surrounding the purported government agency. He maintained that Nigerians deserved to hear directly from all those alleged to have played a role in the matter before any investigation was concluded.
Describing the controversy as “one of the biggest scandals that has rocked the nation,” Dominic said limiting the inquiry to a parliamentary investigation would not deliver justice.
“I must say that this administrative haste is actually one of the biggest scandals that has rocked the nation and I feel that reducing it to just a mere parliamentary investigation is not enough justice to the issue,” he said.
He questioned the decision to conclude the probe without hearing from the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the alleged Director General of the council, Adeyemi Adeneyi, saying their testimonies were crucial to establishing the facts.
“You cannot conclude this kind of matter without necessarily bringing the culprits on board or the people who have been alleged to have been involved in it on board. We need to hear from them. Nigerians deserve to hear directly from them,” he said.
Dominic further argued that the investigation risked being viewed as politically influenced if it ended without obtaining testimony from those central to the allegations.
“I think that’s where we started from. That’s why I’m saying that if you allow this investigation to be concluded without admitting the testimony of the chief of staff, invariably you have shown that the matter has been politicized,” he said.
He also reacted to the admission by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation that her office failed to carry out adequate due diligence before granting approvals linked to the agency, saying acknowledging the error should not end the matter.
“I feel that we need to come to a point in this country where when you make certain mistakes, when you know that you have erred, you have to make penance for such an error,” he said.
According to him, public officials who fail in their responsibilities should be prepared to accept accountability.
“People should have the moral obligation to resign from their position, to take a bow out of office as a way of showing that I have failed in my position. That’s the honorable thing to do,” he added.
While commending the House committee for initiating the probe, Dominic said it had yet to identify those responsible for facilitating the alleged scheme and called for a broader investigation beyond the National Assembly.
He advocated the establishment of an independent investigative panel, supported by forensic investigators, to examine the matter without political interference.
“There should be an independent investigative panel that will look at the matter without any bias, that will look at the matter without any sentiment, would look at the matter without any political coloration, to give it a footing that would be acceptable to all Nigerians,” he said.
Dominic also said multiple investigations, including those by anti-corruption agencies, should proceed simultaneously before their findings are harmonised to establish what transpired in the PFIPC controversy.
Ademide Adebayo
Follow us on:
