The Budget Office of the Federation has defended its role in the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
It stated that the body was not created under the administration of President Bola Tinubu but originated from structures established during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The clarification came from the Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr. Tanimu Yakubu, following his appearance before the House of Representatives in Abuja.
This comes ongoing scrutiny surrounding the council, which has been declared illegal by the Presidency and is currently under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Yakubu said suggestions that the Budget Office created or facilitated the establishment of the PFIPC were incorrect.
According to him, the institution only acted on official documents and approvals that had already been issued by relevant government agencies before the preparation of the 2026 budget.
He explained that the council traced its roots to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), which was inaugurated by former President Buhari on October 9, 2019.
“PEAC/PFIPC did not enter the 2026 Budget merely because it asked for funds. The Council had its origin in the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari on October 9, 2019,” Yakubu said.
He further disclosed that before the 2026 budget process commenced, several official instruments relating to the council had already been issued by government institutions responsible for such matters.
According to him, 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 of the Federation approved an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver.
“The Budget Office did not create the Council. It did not assign its code. It did not approve its establishment. It did not grant its recruitment waiver. It received official instruments and did what the law required of it: it measured their fiscal effect,” he stated.
Yakubu also addressed questions surrounding the allocation made to the council in the 2026 budget.
He revealed that the PFIPC initially proposed a personnel budget of over N3.85 billion.
However, the Budget Office rejected the figure and conducted an independent assessment based on approved staffing levels and existing public service salary structures.
“Council later submitted a personnel estimate of N3,850,935,000.00. That estimate did not form the basis of the Budget Office’s recommendation,” he said.
“The Budget Office disregarded it and made an independent calculation using only the authorised establishment, the approved recruitment waiver, the applicable public-service salary structure and the extant costing methodology.”
Yakubu said the review reduced the personnel allocation to N802.978 million, which was eventually included in the Executive Budget proposal and later appropriated.
The Budget Office boss, however, maintained that the council never had access to the funds because it failed to secure Financial Clearance, a mandatory requirement before any recruitment or salary payments can be processed.
He explained that Financial Clearance serves as confirmation that all fiscal and regulatory conditions have been met before personnel expenditure can commence.
“The Budget Office did not issue Financial Clearance for PEAC/PFIPC because the conditions were incomplete,” he said.
He noted that although the budget provision existed, the council could not proceed with recruitment, payroll enrollment or salary payments because essential approvals remained outstanding even after the 2026 Appropriation Bill received presidential assent.
According to him, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had not validated the proposed staffing and remuneration framework submitted by the council.
“There was therefore no Financial Clearance. There was no lawful recruitment. There was no payroll enrollment. There was no salary payment,” Yakubu stated.
The Director-General also dismissed claims that the council had access to over N800 million appropriated for personnel costs.
He stressed that personnel allocations are not released as lump-sum payments to agencies but are instead disbursed monthly to verified employees through the federal payroll system.
“The institution does not receive the annual personnel provision as cash under its control,” he said.
“Even in a lawful process, the Council would not have received N802,978,783.00 in one payment. The money would have gone over twelve months to individual employees.”
He added that because no recruitment process was completed and no employee was enrolled on the payroll, no part of the appropriation was spent.
“Not one kobo of the personnel provision could lawfully have been drawn. Not one kobo was drawn. There is no personnel expenditure to recover because there was no personnel expenditure,” Yakubu said.
Recall, the PFIPC controversy started on June 11, 2026, after the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, publicly disowned the council and petitioned security agencies over its activities.
The matter deepened weeks later when the council’s Director-General, Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, challenged the Presidency’s position.
During a press conference, Adeniyi alleged that Gbajabiamila received N400 million through an intermediary and demanded an additional N200 million to facilitate his appointment.
The allegation was strongly denied by the Chief of Staff, who subsequently filed a N15 billion defamation suit against Adeniyi.
Adeniyi is currently in police custody over allegations linked to the PFIPC scandal, including claims of forgery.
Before his arrest, he had acknowledged approaching officials of the Budget Office in a bid to secure the council’s inclusion in the federal budget.
