By Felix Umande

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has dismissed reports that Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, was arrested over the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, PFIPC, scandal.

The commission said Gbajabiamila only honoured an invitation from investigators as part of its ongoing probe into the purported council.

In a statement posted on its social media page on Tuesday, the ICPC clarified that the Chief of Staff voluntarily appeared at its headquarters in Abuja on Monday, July 20, 2026.

“The Commission confirms that the Chief of Staff’s visit was on the invitation of its investigators and consistent with its ongoing efforts to gather all relevant facts in the matter. He was not arrested; he simply willingly honoured an invitation,” the statement read.

According to the ICPC, President Bola Tinubu directed the commission to investigate how the PFIPC allegedly operated for about two years from the Federal Secretariat in Abuja under one Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as the council’s Director-General.

The commission said Gbajabiamila arrived in the afternoon, responded to enquiries and left after giving his statement.

The controversy has also triggered a parallel investigation by the House of Representatives.

At a public hearing on Monday by the House Ad-hoc Committee, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, the Central Bank of Nigeria confirmed it opened two foreign-currency accounts for the fake agency.

The Director of the CBN Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, told the committee that the accounts — one in US dollars and one in British pounds sterling — were opened following a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation dated July 29, 2025.

“On July 30, 2025, we received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General. We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim said.

He explained that the CBN’s procedure requires verification once such a mandate is received, noting that the department that handles the mandate is different from the department that opens the account.

He added that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.

The ICPC said investigations into the alleged fake agency are ongoing and further updates will be provided as necessary.

Adeyemi, who allegedly posed as DG of the PFIPC, has been arrested and is facing prosecution.

The House committee is also probing how the purported council secured office space, budgetary allocation and other official documentation.

By Felix Umande, Makurdi

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved 26 new appointments into 10 Federal Government agencies and commissions, in a major shake-up aimed at strengthening governance and service delivery.

The appointments were announced on Sunday, 20 July, 2026 and take immediate effect.

Among the key appointments, Gisaor Vincent Iorja, an economist, legal scholar and academic, has been named Executive Director, Finance of the Federal Housing Authority. He replaces Mathias Terwase Byuan, who resigned to contest the governorship election in Benue State. Gisaor currently serves as Secretary of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC.

Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of the Rural Electrification Agency, REA.

He will head the board alongside Alhaji Ahmadu Abubakar and Engineer Ilyasu Ibrahim Makinta as members and non-executive directors. The incumbent Director-General of REA, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, and three previously appointed executive directors complete the board.

Major General Junaid Bindawa has been named Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission. President Tinubu also made eight other appointments to the Commission.

Former House of Representatives member from Lagos, Olajumoke Okoya-Thomas, was appointed Secretary of the Commission. Commissioners appointed to represent states include Dr. Ogbole Ene Lilian, Benue; Oladele Olatubosun, Oyo; and Yakubu Umar Barde, Kaduna.

Other members of the Commission are Dr. Mai Adamu Yau, Borno; Ginika Florence Tor, Enugu; Engineer Lawrence Okoh, Edo; and Bello Morenike Iyabode, Kogi.

President Tinubu also appointed Dr. Abuh Mohammed as Director-General of the National Population Commission.

Dr. Akinola Odeyemi as Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading, NBET.
Dr. Anthony Inalegwu Godwin as Chairman/CEO of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission.

Engineer Julius Oloro, a former council chairman, as CEO of the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation, NCAM, Kwara, replacing
Dr. A.R. Kamal who died in January.

Tosin Johnson Adeyanju, previously Executive Secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund, NLTF, has been redeployed as Secretary of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission.

The President also constituted the board of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission with Dr. Abdullahi Maikano Saidu as Chairman. Members include Mohammed Asmau, Mohammed Aliyu Makama, Dr. Suleiman Gidado, Louis O. Ndukwe, Amaechi Ugwele and Olaniyi Idowu Onikola.

Shuni Muhammad Dahiru was named Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education. He replaces Professor Shu’aibu Shehu Aliyu, who was reassigned to the Petroleum Trust Development Fund, PTDF, in April.

According to the Presidency, the appointments are part of ongoing efforts to reposition institutions to deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda.

By Nick Ibe, Abuja

DSS is prepared to appeal to achieve death penalty for the two Ansaru terrorist group commanders given life sentences in Abuja were given by Emeka Nwite. The were sentenced on Monday after they pleaded guilty to a 32-count terrorism charge.

The convicts: Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, described as the self-styled Emir of Ansaru, and Mahmud al-Nigeri (a.k.a Malam Mamuda), his deputy and chief of staff.

The judge handed down the sentence after the convicts changed their plea from not guilty to guilty and, through their lawyer, appealed for leniency.

A senior DSS official, speaking after the judgement, said the agency considers the punishment inadequate given the gravity of the offences.

According to the official, the two men had initially indicated they would plead guilty but later changed their position around the period pupils and teachers were abducted in Oriire LGA of Oyo state by suspected members of the same group.

“For the nearly 60 days the kidnappers held on to the pupils and teachers of Oriire, the Ansaru commanders in our custody changed,” the official said.

“One of the top conditions the abductors gave was the unconditional release of these same Ansaru commanders in exchange for the Oriire kidnap victims.”

The DSS official said the defendants, who had earlier pleaded not guilty, later told the court they were undecided on the plea they intended to enter.

“Justice Nwite even had to hand them an ultimatum to make up their minds on or before Monday’s sitting.

“After the Oriire rescue, they came to court to plead guilty to all the charges.

“Allowing the two terror commanders walk away with life sentences will not serve the cause of justice for the two Oriire teachers beheaded by their abductors.

“The reason the terrorists beheaded the two Oriire teacher’s was to put pressure on government to release these two Ansaru commanders.

“It, therefore, wouldn’t be fair to see two men beheaded and their families are made to live with the losses without adequately bringing the culprits to book.”