BREAKING: Senate Rejects Motion To Probe Controversial N1.3bn PFIPC Budget Allocation

The Senate on Wednesday declined to launch a comprehensive investigation into the controversial N1.3 billion budgetary allocation to the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), opting instead to await the outcome of an investigation already ordered by President Bola Tinubu.

The proposed probe was initiated by Senator Suleiman Kawu (APC, Kano South), who raised a point of order during plenary, seeking an urgent investigation into the budgetary allocation, operations and controversy surrounding the PFIPC to safeguard the integrity of the Senate and the Federal Government.

Relying on Order 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2026, Kawu argued that the controversy surrounding the council had raised serious concerns about the credibility of the National Assembly and the integrity of Nigeria’s appropriation process.

“The Senate notes with concern that, in recent weeks, the public space has been inundated with allegations, controversies, accusations and counter-accusations concerning an entity known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC),” he said.

The lawmaker noted that although senior officials of the Presidency had publicly disowned the PFIPC, describing it as a “fake,” “fictitious” and unauthorised entity, it was nevertheless included in the 2026 Appropriation Act under Budget Code 0111062001 with a budgetary allocation of N1,302,978,784.

He said the allocation comprised N802.98 million for personnel costs, N200 million for overheads and N300 million for capital expenditure, describing the development as a serious breach of the integrity of the nation’s budget process.

Kawu urged the Senate to condemn what he described as administrative lapses, internal collaboration or fraudulent schemes that enabled the inclusion of the purportedly non-existent agency in the national budget.

He also sought a resolution directing the Senate Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, and Appropriations to conduct a comprehensive investigation into how the allocation was proposed, scrutinised, justified and approved.

The proposed investigation was also expected to identify the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), public officials or individuals responsible for facilitating the inclusion of the PFIPC in the budget and determine whether any funds had been released, committed or expended under the budget line, including whether any bank account had been established or operated for the entity.

However, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over plenary, declined to allow further debate on the motion, citing the ongoing investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Barau told lawmakers that President Tinubu had already directed the anti-corruption agency to investigate the circumstances surrounding the controversial budget allocation.

He urged the Senate to await the outcome of the ICPC investigation before taking any further legislative action on the matter.

The Senate subsequently rejected the motion for a fresh probe, effectively deferring any parliamentary investigation pending the conclusion of the ICPC’s inquiry into the controversial N1.3 billion allocation.