Atiku demands explanation over N1.3bn budget provision for ‘Presidential Promotion Council’

FORMER Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Nigerian government to explain how N1.3 billion was allocated in the 2026 budget to the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), despite the presidency describing the body as non-existent.

Atiku made the demand on Thursday while reacting to a statement from the presidency, which dismissed the PFIPC as a fictitious organisation and accused its convener, Adeniyi Adeyemi, of forging an appointment letter to present himself as the council’s director-general.

The presidency had, on Wednesday, disclosed that Adeyemi allegedly forged official documents to pose as a presidential appointee and head of the PFIPC.

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According to Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, petitioned the State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in October 2025 following complaints about the activities of the purported council.

The police subsequently arrested Adeyemi, recovered what they described as forged documents, uncovered 34 bank accounts linked to him, and filed an 8-count charge against him and two other suspects before the Federal High Court Abuja.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that the presidency’s explanation had raised more questions than answers and exposed deeper institutional weaknesses within the Tinubu administration.

He said the government’s position failed to explain how an agency it now claims never existed was reportedly allocated about N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act alongside the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

“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 N1.3 billion was appropriated for that very council in the 2026 Appropriation Act. This contradiction is too monumental to ignore,” Atiku said.

The former vice-president questioned the budget process, asking who prepared the estimates, which ministry submitted them, which officials defended them before the National Assembly, which lawmakers approved them, who inserted the allocation into the Appropriation Bill, and who ultimately signed the budget into law if the agency was indeed fictitious.

He also called on the National Assembly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and anti-corruption agencies to account for their respective roles in the matter.

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According to Atiku, the controversy demonstrates a serious failure of legislative oversight, arguing that lawmakers failed to detect or question the inclusion of billions of naira for an agency the presidency now says never existed.

He further described the development as evidence of broader governance failures, insisting that a government unable to safeguard the integrity of its own budget cannot credibly claim to uphold transparency and accountability.

Atiku called for an independent investigation into the matter, urging authorities to follow the evidence wherever it leads without political interference or selective justice.