The anti-corruption agency found that the Budget Office admitted the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council into the 2026 budget without carrying out due diligence.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has faulted the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) for including the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 federal budget.
According to the report, the Budget Office processed and onboarded the purported council into the 2026 budget despite gaps in its documentation and without independently verifying the legal instrument establishing it.
The investigation found that the BOF relied on an administrative code issued by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) and establishment-related documents attributed to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), without independently confirming their authenticity or establishing the council’s legal existence.
The findings provide further insight into how the purported agency, headed by Adeniyi Adeyemi, penetrated government systems and secured recognition across several federal institutions.
PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported that Mr Adeyemi, who presented himself as the Director-General of the PFIPC, secured an office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja and obtained government correspondence relating to the agency.
The presidency has maintained that the PFIPC was not created by the Bola Tinubu administration and that Mr Adeyemi was never appointed to head it.
Mr Adeyemi is facing an eight-count criminal charge bordering on forgery and impersonation. He has denied the allegations.
The Budget Office is responsible for preparing and coordinating the annual federal budget based on submissions from ministries, departments and agencies.
The ICPC investigation found that onboarding a new government agency into the national budget requires an administrative or accounting code from the OAGF, as well as an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver from the OHCSF.
On 29 November 2024, the Budget Office received a letter from the OAGF conveying Administrative Code 0111062001 for the purported PFIPC.
However, the investigation found that the Budget Office did not receive direct official communication from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service transmitting the authorised establishment and recruitment waiver for the purported council.
Instead, the copy in its file was a scanned document.
On 20 August 2025, a budget proposal submitted on behalf of the PFIPC contained a proposed personnel cost of N3.85 billion. The submission was accompanied by a flash drive containing details of the proposed personnel expenditure.
The Budget Office did not adopt the proposed figure.
Because there was no approved salary structure from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, the office recalculated the personnel expenditure using the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure, the ICPC said.
It arrived at a total allocation of N1.3 billion, comprising N802 million for personnel, N200 million for overhead and N300 million for capital expenditure.
The ICPC said the PFIPC did not submit estimates for overhead and capital expenditure. The Budget Office instead determined those figures based on the proposed personnel structure, comparisons with similar agencies, the functions of the purported council, and considerations relating to its size and age.
The investigation found that the Budget Office proceeded with the onboarding despite the incomplete submission.
According to the ICPC, the office relied on informal engagements and unverified scanned approvals, with no evidence that the identified deficiencies were formally communicated to, or resolved by, the originating authorities.
The commission said available evidence established that a budgetary provision was made for the purported agency, but did not establish that the money was released, cash-backed, paid or spent.
The finding is significant because PREMIUM TIMES reported in July that the 2026 Appropriation Act contained a N1.3 billion allocation for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
Mr Adeyemi subsequently denied preparing or defending the budget, saying he was in police detention when it was being processed.
The ICPC said the Budget Office did not carry out adequate due diligence to establish the legal basis of the purported PFIPC before considering it for inclusion in the federal budget.
The investigation found no evidence that the office independently verified the council’s establishment instrument, enabling authority, supervisory authority or presidential approval.
Instead, the BOF relied largely on approvals attributed to the OAGF and OHCSF.
The commission identified the absence of adequate verification as one of the weaknesses that allowed the purported agency to pass through government processes.
The investigation also examined the Budget Office’s Standard Operating Procedure for the Expenditure Department, which sets out how budget proposals from government institutions are to be received, reviewed and uploaded into the annual federal budget.
Under the procedure, officers are expected to check submissions for completeness and integrity, identify deficiencies and escalate their observations to the Director of Expenditure.
The director is expected to return the proposal to the originating agency for clarification or corrective action before processing continues.
