Budget Office Says Controversial PFIPC Originated Under Buhari Administration.

The Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) has stated that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), recently declared a fake agency by the Federal Government and currently under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), originated during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, made the clarification while appearing before the House of Representatives in Abuja on Friday, 24 July. He explained that the PFIPC traced its roots to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), which was inaugurated by President Buhari on 9 October 2019.

Yakubu also addressed questions over how the council came to receive an allocation in the 2026 Budget, insisting that the Budget Office merely carried out its statutory responsibilities based on official government approvals.

According to him, the PFIPC was not included in the 2026 Budget simply because it requested funding.

"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 9 October 2019," Yakubu said.

He explained that, before preparations for the 2026 Budget commenced, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had already assigned the council an administrative code, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had approved its authorised establishment and recruitment waiver. He added that the applicable public service salary structure was also in place.

Yakubu stressed that these approvals were issued by the relevant government institutions and not by the Budget Office.

"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 said.

The Budget Office boss further disclosed that the council initially submitted a personnel budget estimate of N3.85 billion for the 2026 fiscal year. However, he said the Office rejected that figure and conducted its own assessment using the approved establishment, recruitment waiver, public service salary structure and the government's costing methodology.

The independent review reduced the proposed personnel cost to N802.98 million, which became the amount included in the Executive Budget proposal and later approved.

"That calculation produced N802,978,783.00. This was not a concession to the Council. It was the Budget Office's own fiscal judgment," Yakubu stated.

Despite the appropriation, Yakubu noted that the PFIPC was unable to access the personnel funds because its promoter, Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, failed to obtain the required Financial Clearance, a mandatory approval confirming that all fiscal and regulatory requirements had been satisfied.

The controversy surrounding the PFIPC came to public attention on 11 June 2026, when the President's Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, declared the council a fake organisation and petitioned law enforcement agencies to investigate its activities.

However, during a press conference on 26 June, the PFIPC's Director-General, Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, rejected the Presidency's position. He alleged that Gbajabiamila received N400 million through a proxy and demanded an additional N200 million to facilitate his appointment.

Gbajabiamila has denied the allegations and subsequently filed a N15 billion defamation lawsuit against Adeniyi.

Adeniyi is currently in police custody following his arrest in connection with the PFIPC investigation and allegations of forgery.