Nigeria’s 2026 budget has allocated N1.3 billion to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), despite the Presidency insisting that the council does not exist under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The discrepancy emerged on Wednesday after the Presidency, through a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, maintained that the PFIPC was a fictitious agency while financial analyst Kalu Aja pointed to the approved 2026 budget, where the council appears as one of the Presidency’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
According to the budget cited by Aja, the PFIPC was allocated a total of N1,302,978,784. The allocation comprises N802,978,783 for personnel costs, N200,000,001 for overhead and N300 million for capital expenditure.
Budget Raises Fresh Questions
Reacting to the Presidency’s position, Aja described the development as troubling, arguing that the budget contradicted the government’s claim that the council never existed.
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“This situation is quite concerning,” Aja said.
He noted that while the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, had maintained that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council “does not exist within the structure of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration,” the same council was captured in the Presidency’s own budget.
“However, this very council is listed in the budget of the Presidency, not in some distant ministry or agency; it’s allocated within the budget of the Presidency itself,” he said.
Aja said the contradiction left only two possible explanations.
“This raises two possibilities: either the Presidency is unaware of its own budget, which is meant for its own operations, or the Secretary to the Federal Government is being dishonest.”
He added that the issue could easily be verified through official government records.
“What surprises me is that the Secretary is making a definitive statement on an issue that can be easily verified. I’ve attached a screenshot from the Federal Budget Office, which shows what the National Assembly voted on and what the President approved.”
Aja said, “The amount in question is N1.3 billion, according to the line item in the 2026 budget,” adding that, “We will be closely observing how the President responds to this situation.”
Presidency Insists Council Never Existed
The Presidency, however, maintained that the PFIPC is a fictitious agency and that its alleged Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is standing trial for fraud.
In his statement, Onanuga said the Office of the Chief of Staff had alerted security agencies after discovering that “fraudsters and imposters” were forging appointment letters to claim leadership positions in the non-existent council.
Quoting a petition by the Chief of Staff, Onanuga said, “The attention of this office has been drawn to the activities of certain individuals and groups engaged in the forgery of official appointment letters purportedly issued from my office,” adding that the fake documents had been used to claim appointments to “non-existent entities, with particular reference to the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.”
He also quoted the Chief of Staff as stating, “Prince Adeniyi Matthew, director-general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, is unknown to any office, nor do we have any dealings with the said council.”
According to Onanuga, police investigations established that the agency was fictitious and that Adeyemi forged his appointment letter and other official documents.
He said Adeyemi and two others were charged before the Federal High Court on November 27, 2025, and are scheduled to appear in court on July 27.
The Presidency further advised politicians and members of the public to await the outcome of the court proceedings rather than rely on Adeyemi’s claims.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X