ICPC faults Budget Office for including fake PFIPC agency in 2026 budget with N1.3bn allocation
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) has faulted the Budget Office of the Federation for including the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in Nigeria's 2026 federal budget, allocating N1.3 billion to a non-existent agency. The investigation found that despite missing documentation and no legal verification, the Budget Office processed the PFIPC's budget proposal using an administrative code from the Office of the Accountant-General and unverified documents from the Office of the Head of Civil Service.
The fraud was uncovered after ICPC's investigation revealed that PFIPC, headed by Adeniyi Adeyemi (now facing eight-count charges for forgery and impersonation), had secured office space at the Federal Secretariat and obtained government correspondence despite the Presidency stating the agency never existed. The Budget Office allocated N802 million for personnel, N200 million for overhead, and N300 million for capital expenditure to PFIPC, relying on informal engagements rather than formal verification processes.
ICPC identified serious weaknesses in the Budget Office's Standard Operating Procedure, including failure to check submission completeness, outdated guidance not reviewed since November 2024, and no requirement for independent verification of agency establishment documents. These control gaps allowed the fake agency to penetrate multiple government systems. The investigation also uncovered another suspected fake agency, the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, operating within the Secretary to the Government of the Federation's office.
This scandal exposes how individuals can exploit bureaucratic loopholes to siphon public funds, raising urgent questions about the integrity of Nigeria's budget process. With N1.3 billion of taxpayer money nearly lost to a phantom agency, what systemic reforms should Nigerians demand to prevent such fraud and ensure their taxes actually serve intended purposes?