Atiku Queries FG Over Alleged ₦1.3bn Budget Allocation to ‘Non-Existent’ Presidential Council

‎Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Federal Government to explain the reported ₦1.3 billion allocation to the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
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‎The demand follows the Presidency’s declaration that the PFIPC is a fictitious agency, accusing its alleged Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, of forging documents to pose as a presidential appointee.
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‎Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, petitioned the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force in October 2025 after complaints about the agency.
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‎According to the Presidency, Adeyemi was subsequently arrested, while investigators recovered forged documents and uncovered 34 bank accounts allegedly linked to him. He and two others are facing an eight-count charge before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
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‎In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that the Presidency’s response had raised serious questions about the integrity of the 2026 budget.
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‎He said it was contradictory for the government to describe the PFIPC as non-existent while public records reportedly showed that about ₦1.3 billion was appropriated for the council alongside the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
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‎Atiku questioned how a non-existent agency could have been captured in the national budget, asking which ministry prepared and submitted the estimates, who defended and approved them before the National Assembly, who inserted the allocation into the Appropriation Bill, and who eventually signed the budget into law.
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‎He also called on the National Assembly, the Central Bank of Nigeria and anti-corruption agencies to clarify their roles in the matter.
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‎The former vice-president criticised the National Assembly’s oversight role, describing the alleged budget allocation as a major governance failure.
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The cable report that he further called for an independent investigation into the controversy, urging authorities to ensure accountability and transparency by uncovering how the allocation was included in the 2026 budget if the agency did not officially exist.