More revelations emerged Tuesday at the ongoing investigation into the activities of the unestablished Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC), as the Managing Director of Divine Dopacy Limited, Mr Gbenga Collins, told the Hon. Yusuf Gagdi led probe panel that he paid ₦400 million to the ‘fake’ director general of the controversial agency, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi to secure the contract for the renovation of an official residence allocated to him in Abuja.

Testifying before the House of Representatives as hoc investigative committee, Collins, confirmed that he paid ₦400 million, which he raised from colleagues who are agribusiness men in Ogbomoso, adding that he paid in five tranches to the ‘fake’ DG.

Giving details of the payment, Collins said ₦100 million was paid on May 16, 2025; another ₦100 million on May 22, 2025; and a further ₦100 million on May 28, 2025. According to him, ₦80 million was paid on June 20, 2025, into the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) account of World Entrepreneurship University Limited, while the remaining ₦20 million was paid into the Access Bank account of Sunshine Confectionery and Catering Services on July 29, 2025.

He, however, denied that the N400 million was a bribe explaining that the embattled director general deceived him into parting with the large amount of money.

The managing director lamented that ever since the deal collapsed after paying the N4oo million, he has not been able to participate in the 2026 cashew business and was under pressure from his colleagues to refund their money.

Collins told the committee that he first met Adeyemi in Ogbomoso in December 2024 during a programme in their hometown.

According to him, Adeyemi subsequently invited him to Abuja around January or February 2025 to discuss a business opportunity.

He said that on his arrival at the Abuja airport, an official vehicle was sent to pick him up and convey him to Adeyemi’s office at the Federal Secretariat.

“When I arrived at the airport, he sent an official car to come and pick me from the airport to his office at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja,” he said.

“When I got to his office, I met him there. He is a well-known man in Ogbomoso. I met a lot of people, very big dignitaries in his office, and I met a group of security officers guarding the office.”

He disclosed that Adeyemi presented himself as the Director-General of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

Collins said the visit was his first time in Abuja.”I saw police officers with him. That was my first time of coming to Abuja because I’m not familiar with Abuja. He sent his official car to pick me from the airport. It had a federal government registration number attached to the Lexus SUV,” he said.

He said Adeyemi deceived him that he intended to furnish the official residence purportedly allocated to him as Director-General and offered his company the contract.

Collins informed that Adeyemi personally took him to inspect the property the following day, accompanied by staff and security personnel.

“He told me that he wanted to do refurbishment and renovation of the official house assigned to him as the DG of that agency and asked whether I would be able to handle the contract.

“He took me to the house to show me the property because I slept in Abuja. We went there the following day with his staff. We went with more than four, five or six vehicles with security. They opened the house and took us round, showing me what they wanted to do,” Collins said.

Collins, however, could give the address of the property because of his unfamiliarity with Abuja, but said he still had photographs of the house.

After returning to Ogbomoso, he said discussions continued until around April 2025, when Adeyemi invited him back to Abuja and allegedly presented him with a contract award letter, scope of work and an agreement between the purported agency and Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited for the refurbishment project.

Collins said Adeyemi informed him that he would have to pay N400 million to demonstrate his company’s financial capacity and facilitate the mobilisation of the contract.

“He gave me the contract award letter, the scope of work and the agreement with my company to execute the refurbishment project.

“I had to pay N400 million for the facilitation of that project to show my strength that I would be able to handle the project. At the same time, he said it would fast-track the mobilisation for the contract”.

“When I finished the payment, he said they were going to do the mobilisation by August,” he said.

According to him, Adeyemi subsequently attributed the delay to security-related issues and later assured him that payment would be made in November.

“I continued calling him. He kept managing me, telling me they were handling security issues and that they would pay in November,” Collins said.

As pressure mounted from the business associates who had contributed the funds, Collins said he made repeated trips to Abuja in search of Adeyemi but eventually discovered that his calls were no longer being answered.

He subsequently consulted a lawyer in Abuja.

“My lawyer was the first person who told me that I had been scammed,” he told the committee.

Collins disclosed that his lawyer petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on November 13, 2025, and that he was invited to formally adopt the petition on November 19.

“The petition was written on the 13th and I was invited to adopt it on the 19th,” he said.

He said the EFCC subsequently commenced investigations and invited individuals linked to the bank accounts into which the money was allegedly paid.

According to Collins, investigators informed him that Adeyemi repeatedly failed to honour invitations from the anti-graft agency, allegedly citing ill health through his lawyer.

“Since then, the EFCC has been trying to invite him. I think he has been sending his lawyer. According to the Investigating Police Officer handling the case, his lawyer kept saying he would appear.

“Since then, I have not heard anything further, but they are on top of the matter. The EFCC will be in the best position to handle the rest,” he said.

Collins appealed to the committee to intervene, saying the incident had devastated him financially and affected his business.

“I just want to beg the Chairman and the honourable members to help me talk to all the agencies involved because I have been frustrated.

“Especially by those people who gave me the money. I have started selling my property. My business is not going well again,” he said.

He maintained that he acted on trust because everything he encountered during his visits to Abuja suggested that Adeyemi was a genuine government official.

The committee consequently summoned the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission to explain how Adeyemi got official number plates for his official vehicles.

Chairman of the committee, Gagdi also hinted that the lawmakers may interrogate Adeyemi at an undisclosed date and location in a manner designed not to compromise investigations being conducted by security and anti-graft agencies.

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