The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has said the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) has neither an operational account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nor received any public funds, despite being listed with a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The clarification comes amid growing concern over the council’s status, which the federal government claimed is fictitious.
Pinnacle Daily earlier reported that a review of the 2026 Appropriation Act shows that the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council is listed under the Presidency with a total allocation of ₦1.302 billion, comprising ₦802.98 million for personnel costs, ₦200 million for overheads and ₦300 million for capital expenditure.
Responding during the weekend, the OAGF’s Director of Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa, said the council has not received any budgetary releases because it does not have a fully operational account with the CBN.
“You cannot open an account at the CBN without authorization from the Accountant General. The Accountant General will authorise them to open an account at the CBN,” Mokwa said.
According to him, although an application was made to open a CBN account for the council, the process was never completed because the documentation required to activate the account was not submitted.
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Mokwa said Adeniyi Adeyemi, the council’s convener, approached the OAGF with an appointment letter, but alleged that the document presented related to an already existing agency rather than the PFIPC.
He explained that while the account-opening process commenced based on the document presented, it could not be completed because the names of officials expected to serve as account signatories were never provided.
As a result, he said there was no channel through which the Accountant-General’s office could release government funds to the council.
“The account, till today, has not seen the light of day. It has not seen one kobo because the account is not completely operational,” Mokwa said. “That portrays that he has not collected a dime. The AGF has not released a dime to him because they don’t even have a place where the money can be paid.”
He also dismissed reports that salaries had been paid to the council workers, insisting that the agency had not completed the statutory processes required to recruit staff for the federal public service.
“Based on our knowledge, he has not employed anybody,” Mokwa said.
He explained that before any federal agency can recruit workers and place them on the government payroll, it must first secure approvals from the Federal Character Commission (FCC), the Budget Office and the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC).
Only after obtaining those approvals, he said, can the names of employees be submitted to the Office of the Accountant-General for enrolment on the federal payroll and payment of salaries.
“If they give you a waiver for 200 people, you take the waiver to these agencies and then present the papers to the Accountant-General,” Mokwa explained. “He cannot capture even one name without those approvals because once they are captured, payment will come from the budget.”
He maintained that none of those requirements had been completed, and that the council has neither recruited staff through the required procedures nor received any government funds.
He added that the funding provided to the council in the 2026 budget has not reached the stage where it can be accessed, and that no budgetary releases have been made to the organisation.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X