By Joy Yesufu
The Budget Office of the Federation has told the House of Representatives that none of the N1.3 billion appropriated in the 2026 budget for the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), also referred to as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, was released or spent.
Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, made the disclosure on Friday while appearing before the House Ad Hoc Committee investigating the establishment of the council and the budgetary allocation approved for it in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Yakubu explained that although the National Assembly approved funding for the council, the statutory and administrative conditions required for accessing public funds were never fulfilled.
He maintained that no payment was made under the personnel, overhead or capital components of the allocation.
“The conclusion is firm. Not one kobo of the personnel provision could lawfully have been drawn, and not one kobo was drawn. The overhead provision never matured into a lawful cash release. The capital provision never matured into procurement or expenditure. The conditions required for spending were not met and were not close to being met,” he said.
According to him, the Budget Office withheld the required financial clearance, while no recruitment, payroll approval or other authorisations necessary for fund disbursement were granted.
He added that the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation were also directed not to process any payments in favour of the ‘council.’
Yakubu assured lawmakers of the Budget Office’s continued cooperation with the ongoing investigation by providing all relevant documents and records.
The controversy surrounding the PFIPC emerged after Adeniyi Adeyemi publicly identified himself as the council’s Director-General, despite the Presidency insisting that no such government agency exists.
Adeyemi was photographed with diplomats and senior government officials and reportedly operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
Although the Presidency subsequently disowned the council and initiated criminal proceedings against him, Adeyemi has maintained that his appointment was legitimate.
He also denied allegations of forging his appointment letter and accused the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, of receiving money through an intermediary in connection with the appointment.
Gbajabiamila has denied the allegation and instituted legal action against Adeyemi, who was later arrested in Osun State.
As part of the probe, the House committee also invited officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and security agencies.
Earlier this week, the CBN disclosed that it opened two accounts for the disputed council on the instruction of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation but confirmed that neither account had been activated nor funded.
Director of Banking Services at the CBN, Abdullahi Hamisu, told the committee that no foreign exchange allocation, remittance or transaction had been processed because no authorised signatories were designated to operate the accounts.
“The accounts have never been operated. Consequently, there have been no foreign exchange allocations, no remittances and no approvals because the authority to operate the accounts was never established,” Hamisu said.
Similarly, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, denied claims that her office deployed personnel to the council or allocated office space to it.
She said although a request for staff deployment was received, it was only acknowledged and never approved.
Walson-Jack also dismissed reports that the council occupied office accommodation within the Federal Secretariat, stressing that no office allocation was made by her office.
Meanwhile, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has commenced an investigation into the matter on the directive of President Bola Tinubu, with several individuals, including the President’s Chief of Staff, invited as part of the ongoing inquiry.
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