The Budget Office of the Federation has explained that it withheld financial clearance for the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) because the council failed to meet all the regulatory requirements needed to recruit staff and access public funds.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a statement issued on Friday by its Director-General, Tanimu Yakubu, the office said the absence of financial clearance meant the council’s personnel allocation remained only a budgetary provision and could not be used for recruitment, payroll enrolment or salary payments.
The clarification comes amid ongoing controversy over the PFIPC, which operated like a government agency despite lacking a legal framework or presidential proclamation establishing it.
The 2026 Appropriation Act lists the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council under the Presidency with a total allocation of ₦1.303 billion, comprising ₦802.98 million for personnel costs, ₦200 million for overheads and ₦300 million for capital projects.
The controversy intensified on June 11, 2026, when the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, declared that the PFIPC did not exist under the Tinubu administration.
However, on June 26, the council’s promoter, Adeyemi, rejected the Presidency’s position and alleged that Gbajabiamila received ₦400 million through a proxy and demanded an additional ₦200 million to facilitate his appointment. The chief of staff denied the allegations.
Adeyemi was later arrested in connection with the PFIPC scandal and alleged forgery.
Before his arrest, he claimed to have personally lobbied officials of the Budget Office to secure the council’s inclusion in the 2026 federal budget.
The controversy deepened after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) confirmed that it opened two domiciliary accounts linked to the PFIPC—one in U.S. dollars and another in British pounds—on the directive of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF). The apex bank, however, said neither account was ever funded or operated.
PFIPC entered budget through official government processes
The Budget Office said the PFIPC’s origin could be traced to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari on October 9, 2019.
According to the office, the OAGF assigned the council an administrative budget code, enabling it to be recognised as a spending unit for budgeting purposes.
“Without that code, a spending body cannot be recognised for budgeting, appropriated as a spending unit, or subsequently participate in the expenditure process,” the statement said.
The office added that an approved establishment and a recruitment waiver had also been issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, while the applicable public service salary structure was already in place.
It stressed, however, that it neither created the budget code nor approved recruitment for the council, but merely acted on official documents issued by relevant government agencies.
The Budget Office also disclosed that although the PFIPC requested ₦3.85 billion for personnel costs, it rejected the proposal and carried out an independent assessment using the authorised establishment, approved recruitment waiver, applicable salary structure and standard personnel-cost methodology.
That exercise produced the ₦802.98 million personnel allocation eventually included in the Executive Budget and approved by the National Assembly.
“It was not a compromise with the Council. It was not a reduced version of the Council’s request. It was an independent fiscal determination,” the office said.
No financial clearance, no recruitment
The Budget Office explained that financial clearance serves as formal confirmation that all fiscal and regulatory conditions for recruitment have been satisfied.
“Until Financial Clearance is issued, a personnel provision remains a figure in the budget. It cannot create employees. It cannot place anyone on payroll. It cannot produce a salary payment,” the statement said.
It added that financial clearance was not issued because the required conditions remained incomplete.
According to the office, the 2026 Appropriation Bill only became law after receiving presidential assent on March 31, 2026, making it impossible to issue final financial clearance before then.
Even after the bill became law, another key requirement remained outstanding—the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had yet to certify that the proposed staffing structure and remuneration complied with the approved public service compensation framework.
“The Budget Office could still estimate personnel cost from the instruments available to it. It could not lawfully open the gate to recruitment while that regulatory confirmation remained outstanding.
“The result followed at once. There was no financial clearance. There was no lawful recruitment. There was no payroll enrolment. There was no salary payment.”
The office further stated that public expenditure follows a sequence of approvals involving several government agencies and maintained that, in the PFIPC case, the process halted before any public funds could be spent.
It added that while overhead and capital allocations appeared in the budget, neither resulted in cash releases or procurement activities.
