Tinubu orders forensic probe into fake agencies after ICPC findings

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic investigation into fictitious agencies, including the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, following revelations by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

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That is to do with the fake agency that is called the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council. Mr President gave us the updates about the work the ICPC has done, and as a result of that, the council has directed that we commission a forensic investigation that will look into our processes, our procedures, internal control weaknesses that allow some of these things to happen, because the findings discovered that we indeed have additional fake agencies.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, announced the directive after the Federal Executive Council meeting. He stated that the investigation will scrutinize processes, procedures, and internal control weaknesses that enabled the existence of these fake entities. The goal is to understand what went wrong, prevent future occurrences, and strengthen government systems.

Oyedele also revealed that the investigation would extend to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). This is because the presence of fake agencies suggests the possibility of fake employees on the federal payroll, undermining efforts to ensure accurate and fair compensation for genuine civil servants. He noted that N9.495tn in subsidy savings and incremental revenue had been allocated to salaries and allowances, a figure exceeding the actual savings from subsidy removal, highlighting the need to eliminate financial leakages.

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What is important is to establish what went wrong, how it can be prevented, and going forward, how we can make our systems stronger. Systems are built when you find problems, you deal with them decisively, and that’s exactly what Mr President and council have directed today.

The President has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and Oyedele's office to collaborate with other agencies to address the matter holistically, covering administrative, accounting, and governance dimensions. The Nigerian people will be updated on the progress of the investigation.

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Mr President directed that the review should extend to IPPIS, because if you have fake agencies, you most likely have fake employees. In a country where you would have seen Mr President doing everything to ensure we enhance payroll, salaries and wages, we can’t afford to have fake people hanging around. It undermines our ability to pay our people well, who are doing the hard work.