The Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Yakubu Tanimu, has confirmed that the phantom Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) entered the budget through official instruments. He traced the council’s institutional origins to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated that council on October 9, 2019.
Tanimu made this revelation during a resumed investigative hearing into the budgetary provisions for the council. The hearing followed the interrogation of National Assembly officials by the ICPC.
Budget Office reveals how council entered budget
Responding to the Ad-hoc Committee’s inquiry, Tanimu explained that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation assigned the administrative budget code. This code gave the council its identity within the budget architecture.
“The council did not enter the 2026 budget merely because it asked for funds,” he said. “The Council had its origin in the presidential economic advisory council, inaugurated during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.”
He added that official instruments had already been issued by the relevant institutions. This happened by the time the 2026 budget preparation began.
N3.8 billion request pruned to N802.98 million
Tanimu disclosed that the council submitted a personnel estimate of N3.8 billion. However, the Budget Office pruned this to N802.98 million. This aligned with the approved establishment and public service salary structure.
“The Budget Office did not create the Council,” he maintained. “It received official instruments and did what the law required of it.”
He stressed that the issue was never whether Parliament appropriated funds. Rather, it was whether the law permitted those funds to become expenditure.
No financial clearance issued for council
Tanimu argued that an appropriation is not expenditure. He explained that public money does not move simply because a figure appears in an Appropriation Act.
“The Budget Office did not issue financial clearance for the Council because the conditions were incomplete,” he stated.
He further explained that after presidential assent on March 31, 2026, another condition remained outstanding. The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had not confirmed compliance with the prescribed template.
Committee questions authenticity of document
In his intervention, a member of the Committee, Hon. Abubakar Fulata, noted that the document submitted by the Budget Office did not bear a gazette number. It also lacked the signature of the Clerk to the National Assembly. Furthermore, it did not show evidence of presidential assent.
“The purported Act is very clear,” he said. “It is not genuine because it did not carry the gazette number, it did not have the signature of the Clerk of the National Assembly and it did not carry the signature of Mr. President.”
Investigation to conclude next week
While ruling, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi disclosed that the Accountant-General of the Federation would appear before the committee on Monday. He said other agencies would also face questioning as the panel moves toward concluding its investigation.
“By the special grace of God, we will conclude our findings and finish by next week,” he assured.
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