Senate defers PFIPC probe, awaits ICPC report

The Senate has resolved to await the outcome of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) investigation before taking further action on the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and its ₦1.302 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Senator Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu (Kano South), who called for an investigation into the budgetary allocation, operations and controversy surrounding the purported council to protect the integrity of the Senate, the National Assembly and the Federal Government’s budget process.

Presenting the motion under Order 9, Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders 2026, Kawu described the issue as a matter of grave institutional concern, noting that the PFIPC had been publicly disowned by senior Presidency officials as a fake, fictitious and unauthorised body.

Despite this, he said, the agency appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act under Budget Code 0111062001 with an allocation of ₦1.302 billion, comprising ₦802.98 million for personnel costs, ₦200 million for overhead and ₦300 million for capital expenditure.

The lawmaker warned that unless the circumstances surrounding the allocation were thoroughly investigated, public confidence in the country’s budget process and the oversight role of the National Assembly would continue to erode.

He also urged the Senate to condemn what he described as administrative lapses, possible internal collaboration or fraudulent acts that allowed a purportedly non-existent agency to be captured in the national budget.

Kawu proposed that the Senate Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, as well as Appropriations, be mandated to investigate the matter.

However, Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, advised against launching an immediate parliamentary probe, noting that President Bola Tinubu had already directed the ICPC to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the controversy.

Barau said the Presidency had activated the appropriate investigative process and urged the Senate to await the commission’s findings before taking legislative action.

“The Presidency has taken up this matter by directing that the ICPC should investigate fully how this matter came to be. The marching order has been given and I think the ICPC has started.

“To me, I believe that what we need to do at this stage is to have the report of the ICPC, and then we can act on that report and deal with it as we feel appropriate,” he said.

The Senate subsequently adopted the proposal to await the ICPC’s report before determining its next course of action.

On Tuesday, President Tinubu directed the anti-graft agency to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the activities of the PFIPC and all matters connected to the controversy, with a mandate to submit its report within 30 days.