BudgIT has called for an urgent independent investigation into the N1.3 billion allocation to the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
It made the call in a statement on Friday signed by its Country Director, Vahyala Kwaga, warning that the development exposes deep weaknesses in Nigeria’s budgeting process and raises serious questions about public financial oversight.
The civic-tech organisation said the allocation of N1,302,978,784 to the PFIPC, also referred to as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), raises “serious questions about the integrity of Nigeria’s budgeting process and the effectiveness of oversight across key public institutions.”
Its call followed claims made on social media by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who identified himself as the Director-General of PFIPC/PEAC and alleged that he paid N400 million to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment.
Pinnacle Daily earlier reported that Nigeria’s 2026 budget revealed that N1.3 billion was allocated to the PFIPC, despite the Presidency insisting that the council does not exist under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Responding to the allegations, the Presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed Adeyemi as a “criminal impostor” and insisted that the agency “does not exist under the Presidency.”
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However, BudgIT said the Presidency’s position has created fresh concerns because the same agency appears as a budgeted entity in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
“The Presidency’s disclaimer raises critical questions that require urgent public clarification,” the organisation said.
“If the agency was indeed fictitious, how did it secure office space within the Federal Secretariat, operate several Central Bank of Nigeria accounts, receive a budgetary allocation exceeding N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, navigate the various stages of the federal budget process, and engage government institutions, development partners, and diplomatic missions before questions were publicly raised about its legitimacy?”
BudgIT said its review of previous Appropriation Acts showed that PFIPC/PEAC did not exist as a budgeted entity under the Presidency in the 2023, 2024 or 2025 budgets.
“Its appearance in the 2026 budget therefore raises legitimate questions about the process through which it was introduced and approved,” the organisation stated.
BudgIT said the incident reflects long-standing concerns over unexplained budget insertions, weak legislative scrutiny and recurring irregularities in public expenditure.
It recalled that in its report on National Assembly insertions in the 2025 Budget, it uncovered 11,122 projects worth N6.93 trillion inserted into the budget without adequate justification, representing about 12.5 per cent of the N54.99 trillion federal budget.
“Such findings point to systemic vulnerabilities that continue to expose public resources to abuse,” it said.
The organisation added that the issue goes beyond allegations against individuals and instead points to an apparent breakdown of institutional safeguards across Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the Budget Office, the Office of the Accountant-General, the Presidency, the National Assembly and other oversight institutions.
“The successful appropriation of over N1.3 billion to an entity now publicly disowned by the Presidency raises troubling questions about how these safeguards failed simultaneously,” BudgIT said.
It said Nigerians deserve a transparent explanation of whether the allocation resulted from “administrative negligence, deliberate manipulation, or institutional compromise.”
BudgIT called on the Presidency, the Budget Office of the Federation, the National Assembly, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Central Bank of Nigeria and anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to immediately launch an independent investigation.
According to the organisation, the investigation should determine how the purported agency was introduced into the federal budget, identify all officials and institutions involved in the appropriation process, establish whether any public funds have been disbursed, and ensure that anyone found culpable is held accountable.
“Nigeria cannot continue to normalise recurring breaches of budget integrity,” BudgIT said, adding that restoring public trust requires “transparency, accountability, and decisive institutional reforms that strengthen oversight and safeguard public resources.”
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X