Fake Agency Boss Explains How Controversial Council Entered 2026 Budget
The embattled Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Prince Adeyemi Matthew Adeniyi, has explained how the agency, which has since been disowned by the Presidency, found its way into the 2026 Appropriation Act, claiming he personally lobbied officials at the Budget Office to have it included.
Adeniyi made the revelation during an interview after his arrest, insisting that contrary to public allegations, neither the Presidency nor the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, was responsible for the agency’s appearance in the national budget. He maintained that he never met the Chief of Staff in person over the matter.
According to him, his efforts to secure funding for the council began in December 2024, when he approached the Budget Office seeking its inclusion in the 2025 budget. However, he said officials informed him that the budget process had already been concluded and advised him to wait for the next appropriation cycle.
He claimed that after the 2025 budget was passed without any allocation for the agency, he continued discussions with Budget Office officials, who assured him that the proposal would instead be considered during the preparation of the 2026 budget.
Adeniyi further alleged that a female official at the Budget Office helped him secure meetings with senior officials, including the Director-General of the Budget Office, before he was eventually referred to another director who handled the proposal.
According to him, although the proposal could not be accommodated in the previous budget cycle, discussions continued until the council eventually appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act with an allocation of about ₦1.3 billion.
The budgetary allocation has generated nationwide controversy after the Presidency insisted that the PFIPC is not a recognised Federal Government agency, raising questions about how it was captured in the national budget despite ongoing investigations into its authenticity.
The alleged council has been at the centre of investigations by security and anti-corruption agencies, while the House of Representatives has also commenced a probe into the circumstances surrounding its establishment and funding.
President Bola Tinubu has equally directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate how the agency was inserted into the 2026 budget and identify all those responsible for the controversial allocation.
The unfolding scandal has intensified calls for stricter oversight of Nigeria’s budget preparation process, with many stakeholders demanding greater transparency to prevent unauthorised agencies from receiving public funds in future appropriation exercises.