The Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) has stated that the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which the Federal Government has described as an illegitimate agency, originated during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking before the House of Representatives in Abuja on Friday, July 24, the Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, explained that the PFIPC evolved from the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), which was inaugurated by Buhari on October 9, 2019.
Yakubu made the clarification while responding to questions about how the council was included in the 2026 federal budget despite later being declared a fake agency and becoming the subject of an investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
According to him, the Budget Office did not independently create or recognize the PFIPC but acted on official documents issued by relevant government institutions.
“PEAC/PFIPC did not enter the 2026 Budget merely because it requested funding,” Yakubu said. “Its origin can be traced to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated during the Buhari administration. Before work began on the 2026 budget, the necessary administrative approvals had already been issued by the appropriate government agencies.”
He explained that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation assigned an administrative code to the council, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service approved its establishment and granted a recruitment waiver. Yakubu stressed that these approvals were not issued by the Budget Office.
“The Budget Office neither created the council nor approved its establishment or recruitment. Our responsibility was simply to assess the fiscal implications of the official instruments presented to us,” he added.
Yakubu also disclosed that the council initially proposed a personnel budget of N3.85 billion for the 2026 fiscal year. However, after conducting its own assessment using approved staffing levels, recruitment approvals, the public service salary structure, and established costing guidelines, the Budget Office reduced the amount to N802.98 million.
He emphasized that the revised figure reflected the Budget Office’s independent financial assessment rather than the council’s request.
Despite the allocation being included in the approved budget, Yakubu revealed that the PFIPC was unable to access the personnel funds because it failed to obtain Financial Clearance, a mandatory approval confirming that all fiscal and regulatory requirements had been met.
The PFIPC controversy came into the spotlight on June 11, 2026, when the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, publicly disowned the council, describing it as a fake agency and referring the matter to law enforcement authorities for investigation.
The dispute intensified on June 26 when the council’s Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, rejected the Presidency’s position during a press briefing. Adeyemi alleged that Gbajabiamila received N400 million through a proxy and demanded an additional N200 million to facilitate his appointment.
Gbajabiamila denied the allegations and subsequently filed a N15 billion defamation lawsuit against Adeyemi.
Adeyemi is currently in police custody over allegations linked to the PFIPC scandal, including claims of document forgery, while investigations by the relevant authorities continue.
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