Fake agency originated from Buhari government — Budget Office explains PFIPC allocation
The Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) has said the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which the Presidency declared a fake agency and is currently under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), originated during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement issued after appearing before the House of Representatives in Abuja, the Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, explained that the council evolved from the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated by Buhari on October 9, 2019. He also clarified how the PFIPC was allocated funds in the 2026 budget.
Yakubu said the PFIPC did not find its way into the 2026 budget simply because it requested funding, noting that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had already assigned it an administrative code, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service had approved its authorised establishment and recruitment waiver before the budget was prepared.
According to him, the Budget Office neither created the council nor approved its establishment, stressing that its role was limited to assessing the fiscal implications of official instruments submitted by relevant government agencies.
He disclosed that although the council proposed a personnel budget of ₦3.85 billion for the 2026 fiscal year, the Budget Office independently reduced the figure to ₦802.98 million after applying the approved staffing structure, salary scale and established costing methodology.
Yakubu, however, maintained that despite the appropriation, the council could not access the personnel allocation because it failed to obtain the mandatory Financial Clearance required before recruitment, payroll enrolment and salary payments could commence.
He explained that the 2026 Appropriation Bill only became law after presidential assent on March 31, 2026, and that another requirement, clearance from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, was yet to be fulfilled. As a result, no recruitment took place, no staff were enrolled on the federal payroll and no salaries were paid.
“The Budget Office did not issue Financial Clearance. There was no lawful recruitment, no payroll enrolment and no salary payment. Not one kobo of the personnel provision was drawn,” Yakubu said.
The PFIPC controversy became public on June 11, 2026, after the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, declared the council a fake agency and petitioned law enforcement authorities.
The council’s Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, subsequently rejected the Presidency’s position, alleging that Gbajabiamila demanded money to facilitate his appointment, an allegation the Chief of Staff denied before filing a ₦15 billion defamation suit against him. Adeyemi was later arrested in connection with the PFIPC controversy and alleged forgery.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has also confirmed that it opened two domiciliary accounts for the PFIPC on the directive of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation but stated that the accounts, denominated in United States dollars and British pounds sterling, were never funded or operated.