PEAC/PFIPC controversy: Senate awaits ICPC’s probe report

The Senate has opted to await the report of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) on the unfolding controversy involving the Presidency and the Director-General of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC), Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi.

It took the stance on Wednesday, barely 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu directed the anti-graft agency to investigate the matter and produce a report within 30 days.

The Senate opted to wait for the outcome of the investigation after Kano-South lawmaker, Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu, raised a motion on privilege, urging senators to investigate it.

Kawu’s argument was that the mention of the 2026 budget in the controversy as passed by the National Assembly, could rub on its integrity.

For instance, he said despite public statements by senior Presidency officials describing the PFIPC as fake, fictitious and unauthorised, the entity was captured in the 2026 Appropriation Act under Budget Code 011106200, with an allocation of N1,302,978,784.

Kawu added that the appropriation comprised N802.98 million for personnel costs, 200 million for overhead and 300 million naira for capital expenditure, raising fundamental questions about the integrity of Nigeria’s budget preparation and appropriation process.

The senator was of the view that the Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, as well as Appropriations, should investigate the issue in detail and submit a report.

But, the Senate opted to wait for the ICPC’s report, since President Tinubu had already directed the agency to conduct the investigation.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, also observed that Kawu ought to have approached the matter through a substantive motion.

He said, “The Presidency has taken up this matter by directing that the ICPC should investigate fully how this matter came to be. The marching order has been given and I think the ICPC has started.

“To me, I believe that what we need to do at this stage is to have the report of the ICPC, and then we can act on that report and deal with it as we feel appropriate.”

The Senate resolved to leave the matter pending the outcome of the ICPC’s probe.

However, Senator Kawu said while he praised Tinubu for ordering the probe, he maintained that the National Assembly should also conduct its own investigation as a separate arm of government.

He stated, “I commend Mr President. But he can’t do our work. We, as the National Assembly, are supposed to conduct our own investigation.

“My concern is about the budget.

Who came to the National Assembly to defend the agency?”

Earlier on Tuesday, the Senate, through its spokesman, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, had also clarified that it was the responsibility of the executive to sort out the issues, especially that the controversial budget provisions were not inserted by the National Assembly.

Adaramodu also explained that as of Tuesday, there was no petition before the Senate to investigate the controversy.

Adaramodu, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke more, “The allegations and counter-allegations over fake agency and fake Director-General are all within the executive, which should be sorted out by it, specifically between the office of the Chief of Staff and the alleged fake DG.

“The budget line being referred to was not created or inserted by the National Assembly and it is not the duty of the Senate or the House of Representatives to carry out security checks on those supposedly appointed to head the various MDAs.

“If the alleged fake DG were to be one of the Presidential appointees screened and confirmed by the Senate, the controversy might have been perceived to be somewhat linked to us.

“However, if a petition is sent to the Senate by any of the feuding parties or any concerned Nigerian on existence or non-existence of agency or DG, it will be legislatively looked into.”

Adeyemi is mired in a controversy with the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, in which the DG made a N400million bribery allegation against him.

He also claimed that Gbajabiamila asked for 48 per cent of PEAC/PFIPC’s take-off grant of N27.4bn, allegations that have since been dismissed by the Presidency.

Incidentally, there is also a provision of N1.3billion in the 2026 budget, covering planned capital and recurrent expenditure of the agency.

But, the Presidency denied the existence of the agency, besides filing criminal charges against the controversial DG, who has been seen in photographs appearing to function on behalf of the government.

In a statement by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday, last week, the Presidency cited several instances where the DG allegedly impersonated the government and claimed to act on its behalf.

Onanuga summed him up thus, “The case of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew is a clear case of a con artist who appears to have built a web of false claims to deceive unsuspecting government officials and the public into playing by his scam book. He has a history of fraudulent misrepresentation.”

However, President Tinubu has ordered a full investigation into the matter by the ICPC.