The office of the accountant-general of the federation (OAGF) has disclosed that the presidential foreign intervention promotion council (PFIPC) has no operational account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Recall that some media houses reported that the federal government granted a waiver to the controversial PFIPC to recruit 300 members of staff in August 2025.
A review of the 2026 Appropriation Act also indicated that the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council is expressly listed under the presidency, with a total budget of N1,302,978,784.
The allocation includes N802,978,783 for personnel costs, N200,000,001 for overhead expenditure and N300,000,000 for capital projects.
Bawa Mokwa, director of public relations at the OAGF, while responding to the development, noted that neither public funds nor salaries have been paid to the organisation.
According to Mokwa, although an application was made to open a CBN account, the process was never completed because the required documentation to activate the account was not submitted.
“You cannot open an account at the CBN without authorization from the Accountant General. The accountant general will authorise them to open an account at the CBN,” Mokwa said.
He pointed out that Adeniyi Adeyemi, the convener, approached the OAGF and presented an appointment letter, but alleged that the document related to an already existing agency rather than the PFIPC.
Mokwa said that the account-opening process began based on the document that was presented, but the account could not become operational because the names of the officials expected to serve as account signatories were never provided.
He said there was no channel through which the office of the accountant-general could release government funds to the agency due to the absence of an operational account.
He said the agency did not receive any budgetary allocation from the federal government.
“The account, till today, has not seen the light of day. It has not seen one kobo because the account is not completely operational,” Mokwa said.
“That portrays that he has not collected a dime. The AGF has not released a dime to him because they don’t even have a place where the money can be paid.”
He claimed that the agency did not receive any budgetary allocation from the federal government.
He noted that the council funding is expected to operate under the 2026 budget and has not yet reached the stage where it can receive government funding.
The director, however, denied reports that salaries had been paid to workers of the agency, saying it had not recruited any staff through the procedures required for federal establishments.
“Based on our knowledge, he has not employed anybody.”
Mokwa explained that before any federal agency can recruit workers and place them on the government payroll, it must first obtain the necessary approvals from the Federal Character Commission (FCC), the Budget Office and the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC).
He noted that after approval is granted can names of employees be submitted to the office of the accountant general for enrollment on the federal payroll and payment of salaries.
“If they give you a waiver for 200 people, you take the waiver to these agencies and then present the papers to the accountant general,” Mokwa explained.
“He cannot capture even one name without those approvals because once they are captured, payment will come from the budget.”
Mokwa added that none of those requirements had been completed.
