The Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) has said the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which the Presidency has described as a fake agency, originated during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, disclosed this after appearing before members of the House of Representatives in Abuja, explaining how the agency came to be captured in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
According to Yakubu, the institutional origin of the PFIPC was linked to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), inaugurated by the Buhari administration on October 9, 2019.
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He said by the time preparations for the 2026 budget commenced, official instruments relating to the council had already been issued by relevant government institutions.
Yakubu explained that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had assigned an administrative code to the PFIPC, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had approved an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver.
He said the applicable public service salary structure was also in place, adding that the Budget Office neither created the council nor assigned its administrative code or approved its establishment.
Rather, he said the office relied on the official instruments presented to it to determine the fiscal implications of the council’s operations.
The Budget Office DG disclosed that the council initially submitted a personnel estimate of N3.85 billion for the 2026 fiscal year.
However, the Budget Office independently reviewed the request and reduced the personnel provision to N802.978 million based on the authorised establishment, approved recruitment waiver, applicable salary structure and extant costing methodology.
He said the amount was subsequently included in the Executive Budget proposal and later appropriated by the National Assembly.
Yakubu, however, clarified that the appropriation did not translate into the release of funds to the PFIPC.
He said the council could not access the personnel provision because it failed to obtain the required Financial Clearance, which is necessary before recruitment and payroll processes can commence.
According to him, the Budget Office did not issue Financial Clearance to the PFIPC because some regulatory conditions remained unmet, including confirmation by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission that the proposed staffing and remuneration arrangements complied with the approved public service framework.
He stressed that no recruitment took place, no payroll record was created and no salary was paid to any employee of the council.
Yakubu said the N802.978 million personnel provision represented 61.63 per cent of the total N1.303 billion appropriation for the PFIPC.
He further explained that personnel allocations are not released to agencies as lump sums but are paid monthly into the bank accounts of verified employees enrolled on the Federal Government payroll.
The controversy surrounding the PFIPC came to public attention in June 2026 after the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, declared the council fake and petitioned law enforcement agencies.
The council’s Director-General, Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, subsequently challenged the Presidency’s position and made allegations against Gbajabiamila, which the Chief of Staff denied.
Gbajabiamila has since instituted legal action against Adeyemi over the allegations, while law enforcement authorities are investigating the wider PFIPC controversy.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also confirmed that two domiciliary accounts linked to the PFIPC had been opened on the directive of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The apex bank, however, said the accounts, denominated in US dollars and British pounds sterling, were never funded or operated.
Vanguard
