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By Victor Osula, Abuja
The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday refused to launch its own investigation into the controversial budgetary allocation to the alleged Presidential Council for the Promotion of Foreign Intervention (PFIPC).
The lawmakers however decided to support President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission to investigate the matter and await the outcome of the anti-corruption agency’s findings before taking any legislative action.
This decision effectively puts on hold calls for a parliamentary investigation into how the alleged advice, which has since been repudiated by the Presidency, secured an allocation of ₦1.303 billion in the Appropriation Act of 2026, leaving the ICPC to unravel the circumstances surrounding its inclusion in the national budget.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had earlier clarified that the council had never received such allocation.
The Senate’s position followed a motion sponsored by Senator Suleiman Kawu, who urged the Upper House to initiate a thorough investigation into the budgetary allocation, operations and controversies related to the PFIPC in order to safeguard the integrity of the Senate and the federal government.
Invoking Order 9 and Article 9(c) of the Standing Orders of the Senate (2026), Kawu argued that the dispute had become a serious national issue capable of eroding public confidence in the National Assembly and undermining the legislature’s constitutional powers over appropriation and control.
“The Senate notes with concern that, in recent weeks, the public space has been inundated with allegations, controversies, accusations and counter-allegations regarding an entity known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC),” the lawmaker said.
Kawu urged the Senate to condemn what he described as administrative errors, internal collaboration or fraudulent schemes that allowed an allegedly non-existent or unauthorized entity, listed in budget code 0111062001, to be incorporated into the 2026 appropriations bill.
He also sought to direct the Senate Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct, Public Petitions and Appropriations to investigate how the sum of ₦1,302,978,784 was proposed, vetted, justified and approved during the appropriations process.
According to the motion, the committees were supposed to determine the ministries, departments and agencies, public officials or other individuals responsible for facilitating the recognition and inclusion of the council in the national budget, as well as determine whether any funds had been released, committed or spent under the budget line and whether any bank accounts had been opened or operated in connection with the allocation.
However, before the discussion on the motion could proceed, Senate Vice President Barau Jibrin, who was presiding over the plenary session, ruled that the matter should not be discussed, stressing that the Executive had already launched an investigation.
Jibrin informed senators that President Tinubu had directed the ICPC to conduct a full-scale investigation into the controversy and advised the Senate to await the outcome of the investigation before deciding on any further legislative action.
His ruling effectively blocked consideration of Kawu’s motion and denied the proposed parliamentary investigation.
The PFIPC has been at the center of national controversy after emerging as one of the beneficiaries of the Appropriation Act of 2026, despite repeated assurances from the Presidency that no such agency exists under the federal government.
The scandal has also led to the trial of the self-proclaimed Director General of the purported council, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who is on trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on forgery, impersonation and related offences.
Adeyemi has denied the allegations, insisting that the documents in his possession relating to the council were obtained legitimately.
On Tuesday, President Tinubu tasked the ICPC to investigate how the PFIPC entered the 2026 budget, identify all officials and persons involved in the alleged budget insertion and submit its report within 30 days.
The President also ordered that anyone found guilty should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
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