…says Fake Agency initially requested N3.85bn personnel cost
The House of Representatives’ investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) took a new turn on Friday after the Budget Office of the Federation insisted that although the National Assembly appropriated N1.302 billion for the council in the 2026 budget, no public funds were ever released to the agency because it failed to meet the statutory conditions required for expenditure.
The testimony by Tanimu Yakubu, the director-general of the Budget Office, before the House Ad Hoc Committee investigating the alleged unlawful establishment and funding of the council shifts the focus of the probe from whether money was spent to how an agency the Presidency has described as non-existent secured official recognition across several government institutions and ultimately found its way into the federal budget.
The House panel is investigating how the PFIPC, which President Bola Tinubu’s administration insists was never established by law or executive action, obtained a budget code, interacted with government agencies and was allocated N1.302 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Appearing before lawmakers, Yakubu maintained that the Budget Office neither created the council nor approved its establishment, recruitment or salaries, arguing that the office merely discharged its constitutional responsibility based on official documents received from other government institutions.
