…probe to focus solely on budgetary process and institutional failures that enabled inclusion of agency in budget
By Daily Review Online
The House of Representatives on Wednesday constituted an ad hoc committee, to be chaired by Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi (APC, Plateau), to investigate how more than ₦1.3 billion was reportedly allocated in the 2026 federal budget to the alleged non-existent Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The committee is expected to trace the disputed allocation from the Executive’s budget proposal through the legislative process, identify the stage at which it was introduced, determine how existing scrutiny mechanisms failed to detect it, and recommend measures to prevent similar occurrences in future appropriation exercises.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Gagdi, who warned that the controversy surrounding the PFIPC had exposed serious weaknesses in Nigeria’s budget preparation and verification process.
Leading the debate, Gagdi said the ease with which the alleged agency gained official recognition pointed to systemic failures that could allow other fictitious organisations to find their way into government budgets.
“The ease with which a single unestablished entity processed through official channels suggests a systemic vulnerability rather than an isolated administrative lapse,” Gagdi said.
He noted that although the entity reportedly operated from the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja, between November 2024 and October 2025 and interacted with several government institutions, the Federal Government has since declared that no such agency was ever lawfully established.
According to him, allegations of forgery and impersonation involving the organisation are already the subject of investigations and criminal proceedings before the Federal High Court in Abuja, stressing that the House probe would focus solely on the budgetary process and institutional failures that enabled the agency to appear in the appropriation framework.
Gagdi further stated that records of the National Assembly showed no law establishing the PFIPC. He explained that the organisation allegedly relied on a document claiming to be codified as “Chapter N2117, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria”, whereas no such legislation exists.
He added that the nearest existing law is the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, making the purported legal instrument “manifestly false” when compared with official statutory records.
The lawmaker questioned how an entity without any legal instrument of establishment could secure a budgetary provision exceeding ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Framework.
He said the House must determine whether the allocation originated from the Executive’s budget proposal or was introduced during legislative consideration, and identify the exact stage at which the safeguards in the appropriation process failed.
Following the adoption of the motion, the House mandated the ad hoc committee to invite the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation to explain the verification procedures applied before new entities are admitted into the federal budget.
The committee is also expected to verify all ministries, departments, agencies and government bodies captured in the 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Frameworks against their legal instruments of establishment and receive briefings from relevant security and anti-corruption agencies.
The House directed the committee to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
Lawmakers also requested the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to confirm that no funds have been released, and that no payment warrants would be honoured, in respect of any budget provision linked to the PFIPC pending the conclusion of investigations.
In addition, the House resolved that the Budget Office should, ahead of every Appropriation Bill, submit a comprehensive list of all ministries, departments, agencies and other bodies proposed for funding, together with the legal instruments establishing them, to ensure that no unverified entity is admitted into future federal budgets.
Supporting the motion, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu recounted how he personally met representatives of the disputed organisation after receiving what appeared to be an official communication bearing the Presidency’s insignia, a Federal Secretariat address and a government domain name.
According to him, his office verified the address before granting the delegation an audience, but he became suspicious when the visitors abandoned the policy issues contained in their correspondence and appeared more interested in taking photographs.
Kalu said the incident demonstrated that official symbols alone could no longer be relied upon as proof of an agency’s authenticity and urged the committee to uncover how the organisation secured office accommodation and gained access to senior government officials.
The investigation comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the alleged PFIPC, which the Presidency has disowned while anti-corruption agencies continue investigations into its activities and the circumstances surrounding its appearance in the 2026 federal budget.