PFIPC Saga: Senate awaits ICPC report amid mounting questions over Gbajabiamila’s office

The Senate on Tuesday declined to investigate the controversial inclusion of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 Appropriation Act, opting instead to await the outcome of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) investigation ordered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The decision comes amid the wider PFIPC controversy, which has drawn public attention to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. While Gbajabiamila has consistently denied any wrongdoing and dismissed allegations linking him to the matter, opposition figures and some civil society groups have continued to demand an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the controversial agency.

The motion was sponsored by the Senator representing Kano South Senatorial District, Sulaiman Kawu Sumaila, who urged the Senate to investigate how the agency, publicly disowned by the Presidency, found its way into the 2026 national budget with a statutory allocation.

Invoking Orders 9 and 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders, Sumaila argued that the controversy had raised serious concerns about the integrity of Nigeria’s budgetary process and the credibility of legislative oversight.

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According to the lawmaker, the PFIPC received ₦1.302 billion under budget code 0111062001 in the 2026 Appropriation Act, despite the Presidency’s insistence that no such agency exists under the current administration.

He said the allocation comprised more than ₦800 million for personnel costs, over ₦200 million for overhead expenditure and more than ₦300 million for capital projects.

Sumaila maintained that the inclusion of a purportedly non-existent agency in the Appropriation Act had undermined public confidence in the National Assembly’s appropriation process and exposed possible gaps in legislative scrutiny.

He therefore 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 eventually approved.

The senator 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, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary, said President Tinubu had already directed the ICPC to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the PFIPC controversy and all related issues.

Barau noted that the anti-corruption agency had commenced its assignment and advised that the Senate should await its findings before considering any further legislative action.

“As I said earlier, the Presidency has taken up this matter by directing the ICPC to thoroughly investigate how this issue came about,” Barau said.

Following the ruling, the Senate declined to deliberate on the motion, effectively putting any parliamentary investigation on hold pending the submission of the ICPC’s report.

The PFIPC controversy has continued to generate national debate after the Presidency declared the body fictitious, despite its appearance in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation exceeding ₦1.3 billion. The matter has since prompted calls from opposition politicians, legal practitioners and civil society organisations for greater transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s budgeting and public administration processes.

(Radio Nigeria)