The Budget Office of the Federation has clarified that none of the funds appropriated for the controversial Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC) were spent.
According to the office, although the National Assembly approved a budget for the council, the statutory requirements necessary for releasing and utilizing the funds were never satisfied.
Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, stated this during an appearance before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the establishment and funding of the PEAC/PFIPC. No kobo of the personnel provision was lawfully drawn, and not one kobo was spent.
The overhead provision never matured into a lawful cash release, and the capital provision never resulted in procurement or expenditure. The necessary conditions for spending were not met — and were not close to being met.
There is, therefore, no personnel expenditure to recover. The money never moved because the controls held,” Yakubu explained.
He added that the office withheld financial clearance, did not authorize recruitment or payroll, and instructed both the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General to withhold all payment instruments.
The Budget Office emphasized that personnel, overhead, and capital allocations never resulted in payments or procurement, as the legal and administrative requirements for expenditure were not fulfilled. The office pledged continued cooperation with the House committee, providing all relevant documentation to support its position.
This clarification comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding the PFIPC. For months, Adeniyi Adeyemi claimed to be the council’s director-general, with photos of him alongside diplomats and prominent Nigerians circulating on social media.
He also maintained an office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja. However, the presidency has denied the existence of the agency, filed charges against Adeyemi, and asserted that his appointment letter was forged. Adeyemi has maintained that his appointment is valid, accusing the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, of accepting money through an intermediary for the appointment — a claim Gbajabiamila has denied, taking the matter to court. Adeyemi was eventually arrested in Osun State.
In response to the controversy, the House of Representatives summoned officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), security agencies, the Head of Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, and others for questioning.
During a session on Monday, CBN’s Director of Banking Services, Abdullahi Hamisu, confirmed that two accounts were opened for the disputed agency at the instruction of the Office of the Accountant-General but reported that neither account ever received deposits, remittances, or foreign exchange allocations, as there was no established authority to operate them.
Addressing the committee, Walson-Jack said her office neither allocated office space at the Federal Secretariat to the PFIPC nor deployed any staff to the council.
While there is speculation that the council occupied office space in the Federal Secretariat Phase Three, we can categorically state that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation did not allocate any office space to the PFIPC,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has invited Gbajabiamila for questioning, following President Bola Tinubu’s directive to investigate the matter.
