N1.3bn PFIPC Budget: Not A Kobo Released, Budget Office Tells Reps

The Budget Office of the Federation has told the House of Representatives that not a single kobo from the N1.3 billion allocated to the controversial Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC) was released or spent.

The Director General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, disclosed this while appearing before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the establishment of the council and the budgetary provisions made for it in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

Yakubu explained that although funds were appropriated for the council by the National Assembly, the statutory and administrative requirements needed before public funds could be released were never fulfilled.

He stated that the personnel, overhead and capital provisions contained in the budget never matured into actual payments, procurement or expenditure, adding that the necessary financial controls prevented any disbursement.

“The conclusion is firm. Not one kobo of the personnel provision could lawfully have been drawn, and not one kobo was drawn,” Yakubu told lawmakers, adding that the overhead provision never became a lawful cash release and the capital allocation never progressed into procurement.

The Budget Office boss also told the committee that financial clearance was withheld, no recruitment or payroll approval was granted, and payment processes through relevant government agencies were not activated.

The disclosure came amid an ongoing controversy surrounding PFIPC after questions were raised over the existence, operations and budgetary allocation of the council, with the Presidency previously describing it as a fictitious entity.

The controversy intensified after Adeniyi Adeyemi was accused of presenting himself as the Director General of the agency and carrying out activities linked to the council, leading to investigations by relevant authorities.

Earlier, the Central Bank of Nigeria had also informed lawmakers that accounts opened for the disputed council were never operated, received no inflows and had no foreign exchange allocations or remittances.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson Jack, also told the committee that her office did not deploy civil servants to the council or allocate office space to it, despite reports suggesting it had an operational presence.

Yakubu maintained that the Budget Office only processed the budgetary provision based on official government records presented to it and did not create or authorise the establishment of the council.

The House committee is expected to continue its investigation as lawmakers seek further clarification on how the controversial council appeared in the national budget and the processes that led to its inclusion.

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