Why we included PFIPC in the 2026 Budget

THE Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, has said the Budget Office included the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 budget after relying on official government documents establishing the body, despite the Presidency’s insistence that no such council existed.

Yakubu, in a statement on Friday, July 24, said the Budget Office neither created the council nor authorised any expenditure but simply performed its statutory duty.

According to him, the council had already been assigned an administrative budget code by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and granted establishment approval and a recruitment waiver by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation before the Budget Office processed its budget proposal.

His explanation comes weeks after the Presidency denied the existence of the council, describing it as a fictitious organisation, even though the body was allocated ₦1.302 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

The Presidency had defended the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, against allegations linking him to the council, insisting that no such agency existed under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The Presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described Adeniyi Adeyemi, who identified himself as Director-General of PFIPC, as an impostor who allegedly forged government documents and used them to deceive public institutions, foreign missions and development partners.

The Presidency further said police investigations established that the council was fictitious and that Adeyemi had forged appointment letters, impersonated government officials and opened multiple bank accounts using allegedly fake organisations.

However, the Presidency did not explain why the council appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act with an allocation of ₦802.98 million for personnel, ₦200 million for overheads and ₦300 million for capital expenditure.

Adeyemi, who has denied the allegations, had argued that the council’s inclusion in the federal budget, approval of over 300 staff positions and the existence of official government records proved that the organisation was recognised by the government.

Responding to the controversy, Yakubu said the Budget Office acted strictly on official instruments already issued by relevant government institutions.

According to him, the council originated from the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari on October 9, 2019.

He said the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had already assigned the council an administrative budget code, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had approved its establishment and granted a recruitment waiver before the Budget Office received its budget request.

“The Budget Office did not create the Council. It did not assign the code. It did not approve the establishment. It did not grant the recruitment waiver,” Yakubu said, adding that “It acted on documents issued through recognised government channels and performed the task for which it is responsible: it measured the fiscal consequence of those approvals.”

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Yakubu disclosed that although the council requested ₦3.85 billion as personnel cost, the Budget Office rejected the proposal and independently calculated the amount, using the approved establishment, recruitment waiver and existing public service salary structure.

The exercise, he said, produced ₦802.98 million, which was subsequently included in the Executive Budget proposal and later appropriated by the National Assembly.

He, however, maintained that the appropriation never translated into public expenditure because mandatory statutory conditions for spending public funds were never fulfilled.

According to him, the Budget Office never issued the Financial Clearance required to commence recruitment because the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had yet to certify the proposed staffing and remuneration structure after Tinubu assented to the 2026 Appropriation Act.

“As a result, there was no financial clearance, no lawful recruitment, no payroll enrolment and no salary payment,” he said.

Yakubu also stated that the personnel allocation never became available to the council because personnel appropriations are paid monthly to verified employees through the federal payroll system rather than released to agencies as lump sums.

He added that the ₦200 million overhead allocation was never released after the Budget Office instructed the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to suspend all payment processes once concerns emerged about the council’s legal status.

Similarly, the ₦300 million capital allocation never progressed beyond the budget because procurement approvals required under the Public Procurement Act, treasury warrants and cash backing were never obtained.

“The personnel provision stopped at Financial Clearance. The overhead provision stopped before warranting and cash backing. The capital provision stopped before procurement approval and release,” Yakubu said.

He added that the Budget Office would continue to cooperate with ongoing investigations by making available relevant records, computations and correspondence.

“There is therefore no personnel expenditure to recover. The money never moved because the controls held,” he said.

Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M