Senate Refuses to Investigate N1.3bn PFIPC Budget Despite Calls to Protect Its Integrity
By Passman Akpos
ABUJA — The Senate on Wednesday declined to launch a parliamentary investigation into the controversial N1.3 billion budgetary allocation made for the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), opting instead to await the outcome of an ongoing investigation ordered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The decision followed a motion sponsored by Suleiman Kawu, who urged the upper chamber to investigate the council’s operations, the circumstances surrounding its inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, and the public officials responsible for the disputed budgetary allocation.
Presenting his motion during plenary under Order 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders (2026), Senator Kawu argued that the controversy had cast serious doubt on the credibility of the National Assembly’s appropriation process and its constitutional oversight responsibilities.
Titled, “Urgent Need to Investigate the Budgetary Allocation, Operations, and Controversy Surrounding the Purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) to Safeguard the Integrity of the Senate and the Federal Government,” the motion highlighted widespread public concerns over the legitimacy of the council.
“The Senate notes with concern that, in recent weeks, the public space has been inundated with allegations, controversies, accusations and counter-accusations concerning an entity known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC),” Kawu told lawmakers.
He called on the Senate to condemn what he described as administrative lapses, possible internal collaboration, or fraudulent activities that allegedly enabled a purportedly unauthorized entity to be inserted into the 2026 Appropriation Act under Budget Code 0111062001.
The senator further requested that the Senate Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, alongside the Committee on Appropriations, investigate how the exact sum of N1,302,978,784 was proposed, scrutinized, justified and eventually approved in the national budget.
Kawu also sought a detailed investigation into the ministries, departments and agencies, as well as public officials, involved in facilitating the budgetary insertion. He asked the Senate to determine whether any funds had already been released or spent under the allocation and whether any bank accounts had been opened in connection with the controversial budget line.However, the Senate refused to entertain debate on the motion.
Presiding over the plenary, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin ruled that the matter was already receiving executive attention and that a separate legislative investigation was unnecessary at this stage.
According to Jibrin, President Tinubu had directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the controversial allocation.
He advised lawmakers to allow the anti-corruption agency to conclude its investigation before the Senate considers any further legislative action.
The ruling effectively stalled Senator Kawu’s attempt to initiate a Senate-led inquiry, leaving the ICPC investigation as the principal official probe into the controversial N1.3 billion PFIPC budget allocation, which has generated widespread public scrutiny over transparency, accountability, and the integrity of Nigeria’s budget process.
