Senate Rejects Fresh Probe of N1.3bn ‘Fake’ Agency Budget, Awaits ICPC Report

The Senate on Wednesday rejected calls for a fresh investigation into the controversial N1.3 billion budget allocation to the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), opting instead to await the outcome of the ongoing probe by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The decision followed a point of order raised by Senator Kawu Sumaila (Kano South), who urged the upper chamber to investigate how an agency the Presidency has described as non-existent secured a N1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

Presenting his argument, Sumaila said the controversy had raised serious concerns about the integrity of the nation’s budget process, noting that the PFIPC was allocated N1,302,978,000 under budget code 0111062001 despite the executive’s public disowning of the agency.

According to him, the allocation included over N800 million for personnel costs, more than N200 million for overheads and over N300 million for capital expenditure.
He argued that the inclusion of a purportedly non-existent agency in the national budget undermined public confidence in the appropriation process and exposed weaknesses in legislative scrutiny.

The lawmaker urged the Senate to mandate its Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, and Appropriations to investigate how the allocation was proposed, scrutinised, justified and approved, and whether any funds had been released or spent.

However, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over plenary, opposed the proposal, citing the ongoing investigation ordered by President Bola Tinubu.

“The Presidency has directed the ICPC to investigate this matter fully, and the commission has already commenced work. We should await the outcome of that investigation before taking further legislative action,” Barau said.

The controversy erupted after President Tinubu ordered the ICPC to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the activities of the PFIPC, which the Presidency said was never established by the Federal Government and has no legal basis.

The probe is expected to examine allegations of forged appointment letters and official documents allegedly used by one Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew, who reportedly presented himself as Director-General of the council and falsely claimed to be a presidential appointee.

The Presidency has directed the anti-graft agency to submit its findings within 30 days.