By Emmanuel Onyedika
The Presidency is facing mounting criticism over the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar demanding explanations about the alleged inclusion of ₦1.3 billion for the agency in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
While the Presidency insists the PFIPC is fictitious, questions continue to trail reports that the council received a budgetary allocation. Atiku, in a statement through his aide Phrank Shaibu, said the contradiction exposed deeper institutional failures within the Tinubu administration.
“On one hand, it insists that the PFIPC never existed and was nothing more than an elaborate scam. On the other hand, public records reportedly reveal that approximately ₦1.3 billion was appropriated for that very council in the 2026 Appropriation Act. This contradiction is too monumental to ignore,” Atiku said.
He questioned how funds could be appropriated for a non-existent agency, asking which ministry prepared the estimates, which officials defended them before the National Assembly, and who signed the budget into law. Atiku also accused the legislature of failing in its oversight role, warning that governance credibility is at stake.
The controversy follows the arrest of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who allegedly forged documents to present himself as PFIPC director-general. Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga said Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila petitioned the DSS and Police in October 2025, leading to Adeyemi’s arrest, recovery of forged documents, and discovery of 34 linked bank accounts. Adeyemi and two others now face an eight-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Former Minister of Youth and Sports Solomon Dalung also criticised the Presidency’s defence of Gbajabiamila, arguing that the official response left critical questions unanswered. He asked how a fictitious agency could allegedly operate from the Federal Secretariat, recruit personnel, meet diplomats, and obtain a Central Bank account without detection.
Dalung maintained that regardless of the ongoing court case, the Presidency owes Nigerians a clear explanation of how such a scandal unfolded within government circles.