The Senate on Wednesday refused to launch an investigation into the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), a body accused of being inserted into the 2026 Appropriation Act despite questions over its existence. Senator Suleiman Kawu (APC, Kano South) moved a motion citing Order 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders (2026), urging a probe into how the sum of N1,302,978,784 was allocated to the council under Budget Code: 0111062001. Kawu said the controversy threatened the integrity of the Senate and the National Assembly's oversight powers, calling for the Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct & Public Petitions and the Appropriations Committee to investigate which officials enabled the inclusion and whether funds had been released or accounts opened.
Kawu described the council as a potentially nonexistent or unauthorized entity that had been smuggled into the budget, demanding accountability for the approval process. He argued that the incident undermined constitutional appropriation powers and called for strong condemnation of the administrative lapses or fraud that allowed it. However, Deputy Senate President Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who presided over the session, blocked debate on the motion. Jibrin stated that President Bola Tinubu had already directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter, advising lawmakers to defer to the executive's ongoing inquiry.
Senator Barau Jibrin blocked a Senate-led investigation into a N1.3bn phantom council while citing an executive probe initiated by President Tinubu. The same Senate that regularly asserts oversight authority over the budget has now stepped back when scrutiny involves an entity linked to the presidency. If the ICPC investigation stalls or lacks transparency, the Senate's decision to defer will appear less like deference and more like avoidance. Lawmakers who approved the 2026 budget now face questions about their own complicity in the approval of Budget Code: 0111062001.
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