The Buhari Media Office (BMO) has clarified that former President Muhammadu Buhari had no connection with the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), insisting that neither the alleged agency nor its activities originated under his administration.
In a statement, the group explained that the only advisory body established during Buhari’s tenure was the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), which served as a part-time economic advisory team and not as a government agency with a dedicated budget.
According to the BMO, the council operated from offices within the Federal Secretariat and provided economic policy advice to the President under the leadership of Prof. Doyin Salami before his appointment as Chief Economic Adviser.
The group noted that the council consisted of respected economists and financial experts, including Prof. Mahmuda Sagagi, Prof. Ode Ojowu, Dr. Shehu Yahaya, Dr. Iyabo Masha, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Mr. Bismarck Rewane and Dr. Mohammed Adaya Salisu, who served as secretary.
It added that members of the council were not paid salaries, while its operational expenses were funded only through presidential approvals handled by the Ministry of Finance. The council also had no independent budget allocation throughout the Buhari administration.
The BMO further stated that the Tinubu administration neither formally dissolved the Buhari-era Presidential Economic Advisory Council nor reappointed its members after taking office in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, explained to the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the PFIPC and PEAC controversy that the Budget Office did not establish the council or approve its creation.
He said the office only calculated personnel costs based on official government approvals and administrative documents already issued by relevant authorities.
Yakubu disclosed that although the National Assembly approved ₦1.3 billion for the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act, no funds were released or spent because the legal conditions required for disbursement were never fulfilled.
He explained that before the Budget Office became involved, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had already assigned the council an administrative budget code, allowing it to appear within the federal government’s budgeting system.
According to him, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service had also issued an approved establishment and recruitment waiver, while the applicable public service salary structure was already in place before the council requested funding.
Yakubu added that the Budget Office rejected the council’s initial personnel cost request of ₦3.85 billion because it lacked adequate justification and instead prepared its own estimate using the approved establishment, recruitment approvals and existing public service salary guidelines.
