Civil Service Overhaul Looms After Fake Agency Scandal Exposed

​The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Esther Didi Walson-Jack, has conceded that her office failed to execute adequate due diligence before issuing crucial establishment approvals and recruitment waivers to a fraudulent body, the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

​Appearing before a House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on Wednesday, Walson-Jack revealed that representatives of the phantom agency infiltrated the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence exercise. Armed with a fabricated Establishment Act and a forged appointment letter, the suspects successfully convinced officials to process their requests—an incident she described as entirely unprecedented in the near-century history of the federal civil service.

​“We now, having seen all the facts and observed all the documents, concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in the discharge of the duties of the office,” Walson-Jack stated before lawmakers.

​Unravelling the Web of Forgeries

​Legislators during the tense hearing disclosed that forensic analysis conducted by the Nigeria Police Force confirmed that the appointment letter allegedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President was entirely fake, displaying signatures that bore no resemblance to genuine correspondence. Furthermore, the committee noted that the submitted Establishment Act lacked mandatory legal markers, including citation numbers, Supreme Court numbers, Gazette numbers, and Gazette titles.

​Despite taking full responsibility for the administrative oversight, Walson-Jack maintained that her team operated strictly within established civil service frameworks based on the documentation presented. She pledged immediate procedural reforms to make future approvals strictly fraud-proof.

​Accountant-General’s Office Under Fire

​The investigative panel also grilled officials from the Office of migration and consolidation accounts regarding an administrative code issued to the fictitious body. Former Director Joshua Patmi Luka defended his department’s actions, explaining that the code was forwarded directly to the Permanent Secretary of the State House rather than the purported agency to verify its authenticity.

​However, investigators faulted the dispatch process after discovering that the correspondence was intercepted directly by the alleged fake Director-General rather than reaching the Permanent Secretary’s office. The committee noted that the supposed “Directorate of Administration and Support Services” referenced in the exchange does not exist within the State House infrastructure. Luka maintained the failure stemmed from an isolated individual dispatch error rather than a systemic institutional flaw.

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​Police Custody and Next Steps

​Addressing the continued absence of the prime suspect, Prince Adeyemi, Deputy Commissioner of Police Olufemi Akinola explained that the Nigeria National Cybercrime Centre cannot produce the individual due to a subsisting court order. Police authorities urged the committee to secure a formal production warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction to facilitate compliance.

​The ad-hoc committee indicated it will wrap up its investigative clarification stages and release preliminary findings next week ahead of a final report submission upon the resumption of the House from recess.