Questions are mounting over gaps in Nigeria’s budget verification system after an ICPC investigation found that the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, was included in the 2026 federal budget despite incomplete documentation.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission said the Budget Office relied on documents attributed to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service without independently verifying the council’s legal status.
Despite missing key documents, the Budget Office processed a N1.3 billion allocation for the purported council. The ICPC said, however, that there was no evidence the funds were released, paid or spent.
The commission identified weaknesses in the Budget Office’s internal controls and recommended stronger verification of newly established government agencies before they are included in the federal budget.
The investigation also uncovered another suspected fake agency allegedly operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the suspension of three permanent secretaries and the arrest of the alleged promoter of the second organisation, George Nwabueze.
Meanwhile, alleged PFIPC promoter Adeniyi Adeyemi is facing an eight-count charge of forgery and impersonation, which he has denied.
