Civic-tech organisation BudgIT has called on the Federal Government to launch an independent investigation into the N1.3bn allocation made to the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), also known as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The organisation described the development as a serious threat to the credibility of Nigeria’s budgeting process, noting that the Presidency has since disowned the agency.
BudgIT said the controversy raises fundamental questions about the integrity of the country’s appropriation system and the strength of institutional checks meant to safeguard public funds. It stressed that the allocation of over N1.3bn to an agency whose existence the Presidency has denied points to deep-seated failures in Nigeria’s public financial management structure.
The scandal broke after the Director-General of the PFIPC/PEAC, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, allegedly claimed on social media that he paid N400m to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment.
The Presidency quickly dismissed the claim. Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, branded Adeyemi a “criminal impostor” and insisted no such agency exists within the Presidency.
But BudgIT argued that this denial only deepens the mystery. The organisation said Nigerians deserve to know how a supposedly non-existent agency managed to secure office space at the Federal Secretariat, operate accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, pass through the full federal budget process, and engage with government bodies, diplomatic missions and development partners — all before its legitimacy came into question.
BudgIT noted that neither the PFIPC nor the PEAC appeared as budgeted entities under the Presidency in the 2023, 2024 or 2025 Appropriation Acts, making its sudden emergence in the 2026 budget all the more suspicious. “The sudden appearance of the agency in the 2026 budget raises legitimate concerns regarding the process through which it was introduced, reviewed and eventually approved,” the organisation said.
BudgIT insisted the case is not isolated, pointing to its earlier findings on the 2025 budget, where it identified over 11,000 projects worth nearly N6.93tn inserted without adequate justification — about 12.5 per cent of that year’s N54.99tn national budget.
The organisation said the latest episode highlights the broader collapse of institutional safeguards across the agencies responsible for preparing, reviewing and approving the national budget, including the Budget Office of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General, the Presidency and the National Assembly.
It questioned how all these layers of oversight failed to catch the anomaly, warning that whether the allocation stemmed from negligence, manipulation or compromise, Nigerians deserve full transparency.
BudgIT called on the Presidency, the Budget Office, the National Assembly, the Office of the Accountant-General, the Head of Service, the CBN, anti-corruption agencies and law enforcement to jointly investigate how the agency entered the budget, identify all officials involved, determine whether funds were released, and ensure prosecution of anyone found culpable.
The organisation warned that Nigeria cannot continue to tolerate recurring breaches of budget integrity, and called for stronger oversight and reforms to prevent similar occurrences in future budget cycles.
READ ALSO:
