Budget Office Denies Releasing Funds to Fake Agency

The Budget Office of the Federation has clarified that no public funds were disbursed to the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC). Director General Tanimu Yakubu stated that robust expenditure controls ensured the N1.3 billion appropriated by the National Assembly never translated into actual government spending.

Yakubu explained that while the National Assembly allocated funds, N802 million for personnel, N200 million for overhead, and N300 million for capital expenditure, none of the statutory conditions for releasing public funds were met. These included the absence of an approved procurement plan, consideration by a Ministerial Tenders Board, a Bureau of Public Procurement Certificate of No Objection, or any treasury releases. Crucially, the Budget Office never issued the required Financial Clearance, a prerequisite for staff recruitment and salary payments.

"The money never moved because the controls held," Mr Yakubu emphasized in a statement issued Friday. He further noted that the organization never complied with the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission's requirements regarding public service framework adherence for staffing and remuneration. The Budget Office had formally requested that all payment instruments related to the agency be withheld once concerns about its legal status arose.

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The money never moved because the controls held.

"As a result, there was no Financial Clearance, no lawful recruitment, no payroll enrolment and no salary payment," he asserted. "Not one kobo of the personnel provision could lawfully have been drawn, and not one kobo was drawn." Yakubu also clarified that the Budget Office neither created nor approved the establishment of the PFIPC, distancing the office from the scandal.

The statement comes amid ongoing investigations into the PFIPC's operations. The council's promoter, Adeniyi Adeyemi, has been arrested and charged with forgery and impersonation. President Bola Tinubu has directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter and report within 30 days. Several government agency heads have also been invited by the National Assembly over their correspondence and approvals concerning the phantom agency.

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As a result, there was no Financial Clearance, no lawful recruitment, no payroll enrolment and no salary payment. Not one kobo of the personnel provision could lawfully have been drawn, and not one kobo was drawn.