The budget office of the federation says financial clearance was not issued to the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) because the “required conditions were incomplete”.
In a statement issued by Tanimu Yakubu, its
director-general, the budget office said without the clearance, the council’s
financial allocations remain a figure in the budget.
THE CASE
Without a legal framework or presidential declaration, PFIPC
operated akin to a government agency, complete with an allocation in the 2026
budget, an office space at the federal secretariat, while recruiting staff
members.
A review of the 2026 Appropriation Act indicates that the
Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention
Promotion Council is expressly listed under the presidency, with a total budget
of N1,302,978,784.
The allocation includes N802,978,783 for personnel costs,
N200,000,001 for overhead expenditure and N300,000,000 for capital projects.
The PFIPC controversy came to the fore on June 11, 2026,
when Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to the president, issued a statement in
which he said the PFIPC does not exist under the Tinubu administration.
However, at a press conference on June 26, Adeyemi faulted
the presidency’s disclaimer.
He alleged that Gbajabiamila received N400 million through a
proxy and demanded an additional N200 million to secure his appointment — an
allegation denied by the chief of staff.
Adeyemi is currently in custody after he was arrested in
connection with the PFIPC scandal and alleged forgery.
Prior to his arrest, Adeyemi claimed he personally
approached officials of the budget office to seek the inclusion of the
organisation in the federal government’s budget.
Recently, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) confirmed that it
opened two domiciliary accounts linked to the PFIPC on the directive of the
office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).
The apex bank, however, said the accounts, one denominated
in United States dollars and the other in British pounds sterling, were never
funded or operated.
‘PFIPC ENTERED THE BUDGET THROUGH OFFICIAL INSTRUMENTS’
In the statement, the budget office said the PFIPC’s
institutional origin was premised on the presidential economic advisory council
inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 9, 2019.
The budget office said the OAGF assigned an administrative
budget code to the PFIPC.
“Without that code, a spending body cannot be recognised for
budgeting, appropriated as a spending unit, or subsequently participate in the
expenditure process,” the budget office said.
“An authorised establishment and a recruitment waiver had
also been issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the
Federation.
“The relevant public-service salary structure existed. These
instruments predated and stood apart from the Council’s later request for
budgetary provision.”
The budget office said it did not issue administrative
budget code nor approve recruitment for the council, adding that the office
only acted on documents issued by government agencies.
“The Council asked for N3,850,935,000.00 as personnel cost.
That figure did not form the basis of the Budget Office’s recommendation. The
Budget Office disregarded the unsupported estimate and made its own
calculation,” the budget office said.
“It used only the authorised establishment, the approved
recruitment waiver, the applicable public-service salary structure and the
established personnel-cost methodology.
“The calculation produced N802,978,783.00. That was the
amount placed in the Executive Budget proposal and later appropriated. It was
not a compromise with the Council. It was not a reduced version of the
Council’s request. It was an independent fiscal determination.”
The budget office said the financial clearance is issued as
“formal confirmation that the fiscal and regulatory conditions for recruitment
have been met”.
“Until Financial Clearance is issued, a personnel provision
remains a figure in the budget. It cannot create employees. It cannot place
anyone on payroll. It cannot produce a salary payment,” the agency said.
“The Budget Office did not issue Financial Clearance for
PEAC/PFIPC because the required conditions were incomplete.
“The 2026 Appropriation Bill did not become law until
Presidential Assent on 31 March 2026. Before assent, the Budget Office could
cost the proposal and prepare the Executive Budget. It could not issue final
Financial Clearance against a bill that had not become law.
“After assent, another requirement remained outstanding. The
National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had not confirmed that the
proposed staffing and remuneration arrangements complied with its prescribed
template and the approved public-service compensation framework.
“The Budget Office could still estimate personnel cost from
the instruments available to it. It could not lawfully open the gate to
recruitment while that regulatory confirmation remained outstanding
“The result followed at once. There was no financial
clearance. There was no lawful recruitment. There was no payroll enrolment.
There was no salary payment.”
The budget office said there is a series of approvals from
different agencies before public expenditure is approved, adding that in the
PFIPC case, the sequence did not fail but stopped the expenditure before it
began
The budget office added that the overhead provision did not
lead to cash release and the capital provision did not mature into procurement.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com