Budget Office: No Funds Released for Controversial N1.3bn Presidential Council

The Budget Office of the Federation has told the House of Representatives that none of the N1.3 billion appropriated for the controversial Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, in the 2026 Appropriation Act was released or spent.

The Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, disclosed this on Friday while appearing before the House ad hoc committee investigating the establishment of the council and its budgetary allocation. The session was reported by Channels TV.

Yakubu said that although the National Assembly approved funding for the council, the legal and administrative requirements needed before any money could be accessed were never fulfilled.

“The conclusion is firm. Not one kobo of the personnel provision could lawfully have been drawn, and not one kobo was drawn. The overhead provision never matured into a lawful cash release,” he said.

“The capital provision never matured into procurement or expenditure. The conditions required for spending were not met and were not close to being met. There is therefore no personnel expenditure to recover. The money never moved because the controls held,” he added.

According to him, the Budget Office withheld financial clearance, while no recruitment or payroll approval was granted. He said the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation were also directed not to process any payment linked to the council.

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He assured lawmakers that the Budget Office would continue to cooperate with the investigation by providing all relevant records and documentation.

The controversy surrounding the PFIPC began after one Adeniyi Adeyemi publicly presented himself as the Director-General of the council, despite the Presidency insisting that no such agency exists.

Adeyemi was seen in photographs with diplomats and senior government officials and reportedly operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.

While the Presidency disowned the agency and instituted criminal proceedings against him, Adeyemi maintained that his appointment was valid. He also accused the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, of receiving money through an intermediary in connection with the appointment.

Gbajabiamila has denied the allegation and instituted legal action. Adeyemi was subsequently arrested in Osun State.

As part of its probe, the House committee also invited officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, and security agencies.

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CBN Director of Banking Services, Abdullahi Hamisu, told the committee that the apex bank opened two accounts for the disputed council on the instruction of the Office of the Accountant-General, but neither account was activated or received any funds.

“Like I said, the accounts have never been operated. As a result, there have not been any foreign exchange allocations to the council from CBN. There have not been any remittances into those two accounts,” Hamisu said.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, also denied claims that her office allocated office accommodation or posted personnel to the council.

“The request for deployment of officers was received and noted for consideration. However, there was no deployment of officers by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to the council,” she said.

Punch reports that She also dismissed reports that the council occupied office space within the Federal Secretariat Phase Three.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has also launched an investigation into the matter in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive, with Gbajabiamila among those invited for questioning.

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