The Senate is expected to address the controversy surrounding the N1.3 billion allocation to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 Appropriation Act when plenary resumes on Tuesday.
The development follows allegations that the council, which the Presidency has described as non-existent, secured government recognition through a forged appointment letter and was subsequently allocated funds in the 2026 budget.
Sources in the Presidency, the civil service and the National Assembly told The PUNCH that the controversy stemmed from the alleged use of a forged appointment letter bearing the falsified signature of the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew to obtain office space at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
According to the sources, the document was accepted without adequate verification, allowing the council to operate for more than a year with the appearance of government legitimacy.
A National Assembly source said the PFIPC’s N1.3 billion allocation was inserted into the budget without officials of the council appearing before the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service to defend the proposal.
“It was not brought in as a stand-alone item. It came in with other submissions from the Presidency, so there was no separate budget defence or oversight,” the source said, adding that the Senate leadership was expected to address the issue to clarify the circumstances surrounding the allocation.
Presidency and civil service officials attributed the incident to lapses in due diligence across several government institutions, including the Budget Office, the Civil Service Headquarters and the National Assembly.
They explained that under established procedures, appointments to agencies under the Presidency are approved by the President and formal appointment letters are issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, not the Chief of Staff.
One senior official alleged that the forged appointment letter enabled Adeyemi to obtain office accommodation at the Federal Secretariat, giving the purported council credibility that facilitated its operations.
Another Presidency source said the alleged fraud was first detected after the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) raised concerns over the council’s activities, prompting the Chief of Staff to alert security agencies.
The source maintained that Gbajabiamila had denied any knowledge of Adeyemi or the purported appointment and had supported efforts that led to the suspect’s arrest and prosecution.
Civil society organisations have also demanded greater transparency over the budget allocation.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the leadership of the National Assembly to release documents relating to the approval of the N1.3 billion allocation, including records of committee proceedings and officials who defended the budget provision.
Similarly, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) called for a public inquiry into how funds were appropriated for an entity whose legal status has been questioned.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also criticised the Federal Government over the controversy, urging President Bola Tinubu to order an independent investigation into the matter.
The Kwankwasiyya Movement and a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party likewise called for a thorough probe, arguing that the controversy raised broader concerns about accountability and weaknesses in government oversight.
However, the Deputy Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Philip Agbese, urged the public to allow the judicial process to take its course.
Meanwhile, senior lawyers cautioned against calls for the prosecution of Gbajabiamila without evidence linking him to the alleged fraud, stressing that criminal liability must be based on established facts rather than allegations.
Adeyemi is scheduled to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 27 alongside two other suspects identified as Femi and Anu, who are currently at large.
