An entity claiming to be a presidential council in Nigeria, the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Economic Recovery, Planning and Development (PFIPC), was allocated a budget of almost $1 million, according to reports.
The alleged fictitious agency's inclusion in the national budget has raised questions about the integrity of Nigeria's public finance system, with transparency advocates pointing to potential collusion within government offices. Oluseun Onigbinde, co-founder of the transparency group BudgIT, stated that the PFIPC does not appear in budget proposals for 2023, 2024, or 2025 but surfaced with its own budget code for 2026. "This agency actually emanated and found itself in the budget from the executive," Onigbinde said, suggesting it originated from the president's office rather than parliament.
To establish a legitimate agency in Nigeria, multiple government offices typically must approve its existence, including the secretary to the government of the federation, the head of the civil service, the accountant-general's office, the budget office, and parliament. Former secretary to the government of the federation, Babachir Lawal, who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari, suggested that such an entity could not be created without the knowledge of these powerful offices. "There must be connivance with officials within," Lawal told the BBC, adding that "officials within the system" must validate such actions.
The government's initial explanation stated that the agency's director general, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, had "fraudulently opened" an account at the Central Bank of Nigeria. However, the accountant-general's office later clarified that no such account was activated and no public funds were released. Despite this, the appearance of a government institution without proper authorization has raised concerns, particularly for a country actively seeking foreign investment.
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the country's anti-corruption commission to investigate the matter, with a 30-day deadline for a report that includes the "role of any public officer" who may have aided the alleged scheme. Critics have called for an independent judicial inquiry instead, noting that President Tinubu has publicly expressed "100% confidence" in Gbajabiamila, who is listed as a witness in Adeyemi's legal case.
Nigeria has a history of large-scale corruption scandals, though convictions of politically connected individuals are often rare. The PFIPC case is notable not for the amount of money involved, which is relatively modest, but for the alleged method of its creation—an entire government branch reportedly fabricated from scratch. Onigbinde described the situation as "a symptom of the dysfunctional budgeting process," linking it to a significant increase in the number of government agencies, which has reportedly doubled since a 2012 review recommended their reduction. This proliferation of agencies is seen as a "costly waste of public resource" in a nation facing significant debt.
As the investigation intensified, police reportedly searched for Adeyemi and detained his elderly father, Chief Adetunji Adeniyi, at his family home. Lawyers for Gbajabiamila have denied Adeyemi's allegations, stating that the two men have never met and have demanded a retraction, threatening legal action.