Accountant-general: PFIPC has no CBN account, received no funds
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has said the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) has no operational account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and has not received any public funds from the Federal Government.
The clarification comes amid controversy surrounding the council, which was allocated N1.302 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act under the Presidency. A review of the budget shows that the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council was allocated N802.98 million for personnel costs, N200 million for overheads and N300 million for capital projects.
Speaking at the weekend, the Director of Public Relations at the OAGF, Bawa Mokwa, said neither public funds nor salaries had been paid to the organisation because the process of opening its CBN account was never completed.
According to him, although an application was made to open a CBN account for the council, the required documentation needed to activate it was never submitted, making it impossible for the Office of the Accountant-General to release any government funds.
“You cannot open an account at the CBN without authorisation from the Accountant-General. The Accountant-General authorises such accounts,” Mokwa said.
He disclosed that the council’s convener, Adeniyi Adeyemi, approached the OAGF with an appointment letter, which he claimed related to an already existing government agency rather than the PFIPC. Mokwa explained that while the account-opening process commenced based on the document presented, it could not be completed because the names of the proposed account signatories were never submitted.
“The account, till today, has not seen the light of day. It has not received one kobo because it is not completely operational. That shows he has not collected a dime. The Accountant-General has not released any money because there is no account through which such funds can be paid,” he said.
Mokwa also dismissed reports that the council had recruited workers or paid salaries, insisting that, to the knowledge of the OAGF, the organisation had not employed anyone.
He explained that before any federal agency can recruit staff and place them on the government’s payroll, it must first obtain approvals from the Federal Character Commission, the Budget Office and the Federal Civil Service Commission before forwarding the names of employees to the Office of the Accountant-General for enrolment and salary payment.
“If an agency is granted a waiver to recruit personnel, it must first present the necessary approvals from the relevant agencies before the Accountant-General can capture any employee on the payroll. Without those approvals, not even one name can be enrolled because salary payments come directly from the budget,” Mokwa said, stressing that none of the statutory requirements had been completed by the PFIPC.