Fresh details have emerged on the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal, with Senator Suleiman Kawu alleging that the Senate blocked efforts to investigate how a purportedly non-existent agency secured over N1.3 billion in the 2026 budget.
The PFIPC controversy has dominated public discourse in recent weeks following allegations that its self-proclaimed Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, operated the council as a legitimate government agency despite claims by the Presidency that it does not officially exist.
Reports indicate that Adeyemi allegedly secured office space within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, hosted foreign diplomats and international partners, and projected the image of a functioning government institution.
Public outrage intensified after it was discovered that the council was allocated more than N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act. The budget reportedly included provisions for personnel salaries, allowances, logistics for an international investment summit, and training programmes.
Questions have since been raised about how the agency made its way into the national budget and whether due legislative procedures were followed before the allocation was approved.
The issue reached the Senate floor when Senator Kawu called for an urgent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the budgetary allocation. He argued that the inclusion of an agency allegedly disowned by the Presidency threatens public confidence in the National Assembly’s oversight responsibilities and Nigeria’s fiscal governance system.
Kawu urged the Senate to launch a comprehensive probe to uncover who facilitated the insertion of the N1.3 billion allocation, determine whether any funds had been released, and identify those linked to the agency’s financial accounts.
However, the move was halted after Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over plenary, advised lawmakers to await the outcome of an ongoing investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which was ordered by President Bola Tinubu.
Barau maintained that the Senate should allow the anti-corruption agency to complete its work before taking further action.
Reacting to the decision, Kawu insisted that the National Assembly has an independent constitutional duty to examine its own budgetary processes, regardless of any executive investigation.
According to him, Nigerians deserve answers on how the controversial allocation was approved and whether public funds have already been released.
“We are all Nigerians. History will judge whether we discharged our constitutional responsibilities in accordance with the law,” the lawmaker said.
As investigations continue, attention remains focused on the mystery surrounding the PFIPC and the circumstances that enabled a council described by government officials as fictitious to secure a place in the national budget.
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