Budget Office: PFIPC Originated Under Buhari, No Funds Released to Controversial Council.

The Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) has clarified that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), recently declared fake by the Presidency and currently under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), originated during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr. Tanimu Yakubu, made the clarification in a statement after appearing before members of the House of Representatives in Abuja. He explained that the council’s institutional roots could be traced to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), which was inaugurated by former President Buhari on October 9, 2019.

Yakubu dismissed claims that the PFIPC was inserted into the 2026 federal budget at the request of its promoters, stressing that by the time the budget was being prepared, all necessary administrative instruments had already been issued by the appropriate government institutions.

According to him, 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 approved its authorised 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.

“The Budget Office did not create the council, assign its code, approve its establishment or grant its recruitment waiver. It simply received the official instruments and assessed their fiscal implications in line with its statutory responsibilities,” Yakubu stated.

He disclosed that while the PFIPC proposed a personnel budget of ₦3.85 billion for the 2026 fiscal year, the Budget Office independently reviewed the request and reduced it to ₦802.978 million based on the approved establishment, recruitment waiver, salary structure and existing government costing methodology. The revised figure was subsequently included in the executive budget proposal and later approved by the National Assembly.

Yakubu, however, stressed that despite the appropriation, the council never gained access to the funds because its promoter, Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, failed to obtain the mandatory Financial Clearance required before any personnel expenditure could commence.

He explained that Financial Clearance serves as the legal confirmation that all fiscal and regulatory conditions for recruitment have been satisfied. Without it, he said, budgetary provisions remain only as appropriations and cannot be translated into payroll or salary payments.

“The figure remains in the budget until Financial Clearance is issued. It does not create staff, open payroll or produce salaries,” he said.

The Budget Office boss further noted that although the 2026 Appropriation Bill became law following presidential assent on March 31, 2026, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had not certified the council’s proposed staffing and remuneration structure. Consequently, no Financial Clearance was issued, no recruitment took place and no salaries were paid.

“Not one kobo of the personnel provision could lawfully have been drawn. Not one kobo was drawn. There is no personnel expenditure to recover because there was no personnel expenditure,” Yakubu maintained.

He added that the personnel allocation of ₦802.978 million represented 61.63 per cent of the council’s total appropriation of ₦1.302 billion, explaining that personnel funds are never released as lump sums to government agencies but are paid monthly into the accounts of verified federal employees through the government payroll system—a process that never commenced for the PFIPC.

The controversy surrounding the PFIPC became public on June 11, 2026, after the Presidency, through Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, declared the council fake and petitioned law enforcement agencies to investigate its activities.

At a press conference on June 26, PFIPC Director-General Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi rejected the Presidency’s position and alleged that Gbajabiamila received ₦400 million through a proxy while demanding an additional ₦200 million. The Chief of Staff denied the allegations and has since filed a ₦15 billion defamation suit against Adeniyi.

Adeniyi is currently in police custody over allegations connected to the PFIPC scandal, including alleged forgery. Before his arrest, he claimed he personally lobbied officials of the Budget Office to secure the council’s inclusion in the federal budget.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed that it opened two domiciliary accounts for the PFIPC—one in U.S. dollars and another in British pounds sterling—on the directive of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. However, the apex bank stated that neither account was ever funded or operated.