PFIPC Originated from Buhari Government — Budget Office Explains Allocation

The Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) has explained that the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), later declared non-existent by the Presidency and now under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), originated during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The clarification was made by the Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr Tanimu Yakubu, after appearing before the House of Representatives in Abuja. He said the council did not emerge during the current administration, explaining that its roots could be traced to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council established by former President Buhari on October 9, 2019.

Yakubu also explained why the council appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act despite the controversy surrounding its legal status.

According to him, the Budget Office did not independently create or recognise the council. He said the agency acted on official documents and approvals that had already been issued by the relevant government institutions before the 2026 budget preparation began.

He explained that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had already assigned the council an administrative code, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved its establishment and granted a recruitment waiver. He added that the applicable public service salary structure was also already in place before the Budget Office became involved.

Yakubu maintained that the Budget Office’s responsibility was limited to assessing the financial implications of those approvals. He insisted that the office neither established the council nor approved its operations, recruitment process or official status.

The Director-General disclosed that the council initially submitted a personnel budget proposal of about ₦3.85 billion for the 2026 fiscal year. However, after carrying out its own assessment, the Budget Office reduced the proposed amount to about ₦802.98 million using the approved establishment, recruitment waiver, existing salary structure and standard government costing guidelines.

He explained that the reduced figure represented the Budget Office’s independent calculation rather than the amount requested by the council. That figure was later included in the Executive Budget proposal before receiving legislative approval.

Yakubu further disclosed that despite the budget provision, the council was unable to access any of the personnel allocation because it failed to obtain Financial Clearance, which is the final approval required before recruitment, payroll enrolment and salary payments can begin.

According to him, Financial Clearance confirms that every fiscal and regulatory requirement has been met. Without it, a budget provision remains only an allocation on paper and cannot be converted into actual expenditure.

He said the 2026 Appropriation Bill only became law after receiving Presidential Assent on March 31, 2026. Before that date, the Budget Office could only calculate the proposed expenditure but could not grant final approval for spending.

Even after the budget became law, Yakubu said another condition remained outstanding because the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had not completed the required verification of the proposed staffing structure and salary framework.

As a result, no Financial Clearance was issued, no recruitment was carried out, no payroll records were created and no salaries were paid.

The Director-General also dismissed suggestions that the council had unrestricted access to the ₦802.98 million personnel allocation.

He explained that personnel allocations are never paid directly to government agencies as lump sums. Instead, salaries are released monthly into the accounts of verified employees who have been properly enrolled on the Federal Government payroll.

Since the PFIPC never completed the required recruitment process, he said no employee was enrolled, no salary became due and no part of the personnel allocation was released.

Yakubu insisted that not a single kobo of the personnel budget was withdrawn or spent, adding that there was no expenditure requiring recovery because no payment was ever made.

The PFIPC controversy became public on June 11, 2026, after the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, declared the council to be a fake organisation and referred the matter to law enforcement agencies for investigation.

Days later, the council’s Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, rejected the Presidency’s position and accused Gbajabiamila of receiving ₦400 million through a proxy while allegedly demanding an additional ₦200 million to facilitate his appointment.

Gbajabiamila denied the allegations and subsequently filed a ₦15 billion defamation suit against Adeyemi.

Adeyemi was later arrested by the police over the PFIPC controversy and allegations of forgery. Before his arrest, he claimed that he personally approached officials of the Budget Office to secure the council’s inclusion in the Federal Government’s budget.

The controversy widened after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) confirmed that it opened two domiciliary accounts linked to the PFIPC following a directive from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

However, the apex bank stated that the accounts, one denominated in United States dollars and the other in British pounds sterling, were never funded or used for any transactions.