***NASS divided as Reps probe N1.3bn insertion; Senate blocks fresh inquiry
***You can’t be judge and jury in your case, Atiku flays Tinubu
By Henry Umoru, Omeiza Ajayi, Gift Odekina & Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA — THE brewing storm over the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, took a dramatic turn, yesterday, as the embattled Director-General of the council, Adeniyi Adeyemi, declared his readiness to cooperate fully with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC to unravel how the “ghost” agency secured a whopping N1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 budget.
Adeyemi’s declaration came on the heels of a 30-day ultimatum issued by President Bola Tinubu to the ICPC to investigate the council, which the Presidency insisted is non-existent and completely fraudulent.
This is even as the National Assembly became sharply divided over the matter, yesterday.
While the House of Representatives set up a high-powered ad hoc committee to track how the ‘fictitious’ agency bypassed rigorous checks to secure N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, the Senate blocked an attempt to launch a parallel legislative inquiry, choosing instead to await the outcome of the executive-led anti-graft probe.
The development has triggered fierce political fireworks, with former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, blasting President Tinubu’s directive to the ICPC, arguing that the Presidency cannot act as “judge and jury” in a monumental scandal where its own top officials are deeply entangled.
I’m ready to surrender all documents — Adeyemi
Speaking from his hideout, during an explosive social media interview with internet personality, VeryDarkMan, Adeyemi stated that he is prepared to turn over vital official documents to security agencies to assist ongoing investigations.
He expressed shock over how an agency the Presidency publicly disowned could find its way into the nation’s legal framework for funding.
“I am willing and ready to help security agencies or any panel set up by Mr. President to unravel the truth. In fact, any moment from now, I will go to the DSS or the police to submit all the documents I have to help them investigate and look into this matter.
‘’They should authenticate them. They should verify them. They should unravel the truth,” Adeyemi said.
Defending himself against allegations of single-handedly inserting the budget, Adeyemi revealed a bizarre twist:
“When the Presidency said the agency does not exist, I wondered how an agency that found its way into the national budget could suddenly be described as fake.
‘’I was in detention for 23 days during the period the budget was being prepared. I did not prepare or defend any budget, and nobody went to defend it on my behalf. That is why I am confused about how the agency found its way into the national budget.”
On his previous accusations against the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, the embattled ‘D-G’ said: “I wouldn’t say he’s lying, and I wouldn’t say he’s telling the truth. That is why I requested that Mr. President set up an investigative panel to unravel the truth, so we will know those involved.”
Adeyemi also claimed he was attacked by gunmen near Zuma Rock in September 2025 and reiterated that his involvement with the council was driven by a desire to attract foreign investment to Nigeria.
“I don’t really have a negative plan. It’s all about passion for the country. That agency is to bring foreign investors to Nigeria and make Nigeria a preferred destination for investment,” he said.
Reps track N1.3bn budget line, allege systemic failure
At the Green Chamber, lawmakers expressed deep alarm over how a non-existent council operated from the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja for nearly a year, engaged foreign diplomatic missions, and successfully inserted a N1,302,978,000 allocation under budget code 0111062001.
Moving a motion of urgent public importance, Yusuf Gagdi warned that the breach exposed a dangerous vulnerability in Nigeria’s appropriation process.
“The entity allegedly relied on documents claiming to be an Act codified as Chapter N2117 of the Laws of the Federation, whereas no such legislation exists. The nearest existing law is the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, NIPC Act, which the purported council appeared to duplicate,” Gagdi argued.
To unravel the circumstances surrounding the alleged insertion, the House subsequently gave its ad hoc committee a four-week mandate to summon the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, alongside the Director-General of the Budget Office, to explain the verification lapses.
In addition, lawmakers directed the committee to verify all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, listed in the 2025 and 2026 appropriation frameworks against their legal instruments of establishment and receive briefings from relevant security and anti-corruption agencies without prejudicing the ongoing court case.
The House further urged the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to ensure that no funds were released or warrants honoured in favour of the disputed entity, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Lawmakers also resolved that henceforth, the Budget Office should submit alongside every Appropriation Bill a comprehensive list of all MDAs proposed for funding, indicating the legal instrument establishing each agency to prevent similar occurrences.
Speaking in support of the motion, Chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Ahmed Satomi, described the development as a grave threat to the integrity of Nigeria’s budgetary process.
He said it is disturbing that an agency allegedly unknown to both the Presidency and the National Assembly could secure budgetary allocations.
“This is a nationally important issue. We must investigate it thoroughly because it affects the sanctity of our budget process and the confidence Nigerians have in parliament,” Satomi said.
Adding a stunning revelation to the debate, the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, confessed that his office had been deceived by the group due to the high-level official clearance they wielded.
“The experience shows that a letter-head bearing the Presidency or an office in the Federal Secretariat is no longer sufficient proof that an organisation is legally established,” Kalu lamented.
He recalled that the group presented correspondence dated May 2, 2025, bearing the logos of both the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the PFIPC, with a valid government website.
Senate halts independent probe, awaits ICPC report
In contrast to the swift action of the House, the Senate turned down a frantic bid to launch its own investigation into the N1.3 billion budgetary scandal.
Senator Kawu Sumaila (Kano South), citing Order 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders, had attempted to move a substantive motion demanding that the Senate Committees on Ethics and Appropriations grill executive officers over the ghost budget line, which breakdown showed over N800 million for personnel costs, N200 million for overheads, and N300 million for capital expenditure.
However, the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over plenary, stopped the mover mid-way, insisting that the National Assembly must give the ICPC a chance to complete its 30-day mandate.
“As I said earlier, the Presidency has taken up this matter by directing that the ICPC investigate fully how this matter came to be. And I think ICPC has started. I believe that what we need to do at this stage is to have the report of the ICPC, and then we can act on that report and deal with it as we feel appropriate,” Barau ruled.
The decision followed a point of order raised by Senator Kawu Sumaila, who urged the upper chamber to investigate how the agency, which the Presidency has described as non-existent, secured a N1.3billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
As Sumaila began presenting his motion, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, interrupted him, noting that the matter ought to have come before the Senate as a substantive motion.
Presenting his argument, Sumaila said the controversy surrounding the PFIPC had raised serious concerns about the integrity of the nation’s budget process.
“I rise today under Order 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2026, to draw the attention of this Hallowed Chamber to a matter of grave institutional concern.
“The issues raised directly affect the integrity of the Senate, the credibility of the National Assembly and the effective exercise of our constitutional oversight and appropriation responsibilities.
“Notwithstanding the executive’s public disapproval of this agency, the entirety was incorporated in the 2026 Appropriation Act under Code 0111062001 with a budgetary allocation of N1,302,978,000, thereby raising a serious question regarding the integrity of the budget preparation and appropriation process,” he stated.
According to him, the allocation comprised more than N800m for personnel costs, over N200m for overheads and more than N300m for capital expenditure.
Sumaila argued that the inclusion of a purportedly non-existent agency in the national budget undermined public confidence in the appropriation process and exposed weaknesses in legislative scrutiny.
He urged the Senate to mandate its Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, and Appropriations to investigate how the allocation was proposed, scrutinised, justified and approved.
The lawmaker also sought an inquiry into whether any funds had been released, committed or spent under the budget line and whether any bank account had been opened or operated in connection with the allocation.
Responding, Barau said: “As I said earlier, the presidency has taken up this matter by directing that the ICPC investigate fully how this matter came to be. And I think ICPC has started. I believe that what we need to do at this stage is to have the report of the ICPC, and then we can act on that report and deal with it as we feel appropriate.”
You can’t be judge, jury, Atiku flays Tinubu
Reacting to the development, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, described the deployment of the ICPC as a face-saving, internal cover-up designed to shield powerful actors within the Presidential Villa.
In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku demanded the immediate dissolution of the ICPC probe in favour of a Special Independent Commission of Inquiry composed of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, opposition parties (PDP, ADC), civil society organisations, and retired jurists.
“What Nigerians demanded was never another internal government investigation. We demanded an independent investigation. In every constitutional democracy, a party whose conduct is under scrutiny cannot simultaneously appoint itself investigator, judge and final authority over its own case,” Atiku fired back.
Pointing out glaring contradictions in the presidency’s stance, Atiku stated: “Only one week ago, the Presidency emphatically told Nigerians that the matter had already been thoroughly investigated by the Police… If all of that is true, what exactly is the ICPC expected to spend another 30 days investigating?
“The issue before Nigerians is no longer whether one individual allegedly forged documents. The issue is how an organisation the Presidency insists never existed allegedly acquired office accommodation, interacted with government institutions, sought diplomatic recognition, reportedly conducted recruitment exercises, operated multiple bank accounts and projected the authority of government over an extended period. Bureaucracies do not unknowingly sustain official-looking operations for months.”
Govt drowning in scandals can’t investigate itself — ADC
Echoing Atiku’s position, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, strongly rejected the ICPC route, warning that the anti-graft agency answers directly to the executive and might be compromised.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, accused the presidency of already pre-judging the investigation by declaring Adeyemi’s documents as “forgeries” before the ICPC could even commence forensic evaluation.
“A government that is drowning in scandals cannot be trusted to investigate itself. A Presidency that is at the very heart of a historic scandal such as this does not have the credibility to authorise an investigation into a matter that has brought an entire country into disrepute,” Abdullahi declared.
The ADC also condemned the reported arrest of Adeyemi’s elderly father by security operatives, calling it a desperate act of state intimidation. “The investigation must be allowed to independently determine whether the documents were forged, improperly issued, fraudulently obtained, or lawfully issued under the authority of the Presidency. ‘’This act of intimidation (arresting the father) only strengthens the impression that government is panicking and is desperate to hide the truth rather than uncover it,” the party stated.
