Senate Rejects Bid To Probe ‘Phantom’ Council Budget

The Senate on Wednesday declined to launch a comprehensive investigation into the operations and growing controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).

The move for a holistic probe was initiated by Senator Suleiman Kawu (APC, Kano South), who raised a point of order during plenary.

Citing Order 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders (2026), Kawu presented a motion titled, “Urgent Need to Investigate the Budgetary Allocation, Operations, and Controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) to safeguard the Integrity of the Senate and the Federal Government.”

In his presentation, Kawu argued that the swirling controversies surrounding the council directly threaten the integrity of the Senate, the credibility of the National Assembly, and the legislature’s constitutional oversight and appropriation powers.

“The Senate notes with concern that, in recent weeks, the public space has been inundated with allegations, controversies, accusations and counter-accusations concerning an entity known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC),” Kawu stated.

Senator Kawu urged the Senate to strongly condemn the administrative lapses, internal collaborations, or fraudulent schemes that allowed a seemingly nonexistent or unauthorized entity to be smuggled into the 2026 Appropriation Act under Budget Code: 0111062001.

He formally requested that the Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct & Public Petitions, alongside the Appropriations Committee, investigate how the exact sum of N1,302,978,784 was proposed, scrutinized, justified, and approved, which ministries, departments, agencies, or public officials facilitated the inclusion of the PFIPC and whether any funds have already been released, committed, or spent, and if any bank accounts have been opened under this specific budget line.

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who presided over the plenary, however, ruled against opening a parliamentary debate on the matter.

Jibrin noted that the Executive arm of government is already taking steps to address the scandal.

According to Jibrin, President Bola Tinubu has already directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the issue.

He urged lawmakers to step back and await the outcome of the executive branch’s inquiry.