The Senate has resolved to await the outcome of an investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) before taking action on the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and its inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The decision followed a motion sponsored by Senator Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu (Kano South) on the urgent need to investigate the budgetary allocation, operations and controversy surrounding the purported PFIPC in order to safeguard the integrity of the Senate and the Federal Government.
Presenting the motion under Order 9, Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders 2026, Kawu described the matter as one of grave institutional concern, warning that it poses a serious threat to the credibility of the Senate, the National Assembly and the Federal Government’s budgetary process.
He noted that despite public statements by senior Presidency officials describing the PFIPC as fake, fictitious and unauthorised, the entity was included in the 2026 Appropriation Act under Budget Code 0111062001 with an allocation of N1.302 billion.
According to the senator, the allocation comprised N802.98 million for personnel costs, N200 million for overhead expenses and N300 million for capital expenditure, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the budget preparation and appropriation process.
Kawu argued that unless the circumstances surrounding the inclusion of the PFIPC are thoroughly investigated, public confidence in both the budgetary process and the oversight responsibilities of the National Assembly would continue to erode.
He urged the Senate to strongly condemn what he described as administrative lapses, internal collaboration or possible fraudulent schemes that enabled a purportedly non-existent agency to be captured in the national budget.
The lawmaker also proposed that the Senate Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, as well as Appropriations, be mandated to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the matter.
Responding to the motion, 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 carry out a full investigation.
Barau said the issue could have been presented as a substantive motion through the Senate Committee on Rules and Business but maintained that the Presidency had already activated the appropriate investigative process.
“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 findings before deciding on further legislative action regarding the PFIPC controversy.
On Tuesday, Tinubu ordered the ICPC to launch a comprehensive probe into the activities of the PFIPC and all matters connected to the controversy surrounding the agency.
The President ordered that the investigation be concluded and a detailed report submitted to him within 30 days.
