The Senate on Wednesday declined to launch a comprehensive investigation into the budgetary allocation, operations and mounting controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, known as PFIPC.
Senator Suleiman Kawu, APC-Kano South, raised a point of order during plenary, citing Order 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders 2026.
His 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," sought a full-scale probe into the entity's inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Kawu told colleagues the controversy threatens the chamber's credibility.
"The Senate notes with concern that, in recent weeks, the public space has been inundated with allegations, controversies, accusations and counteraccusations concerning an entity known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council," he said.
Kawu asked the Senate to condemn the administrative lapses or fraudulent schemes that allowed a purportedly nonexistent or unauthorized entity, listed under Budget Code 0111062001, to be incorporated into the 2026 Appropriation Act.
He further requested that the Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, and Appropriations jointly investigate how the sum of N1,302,978,784 was proposed, scrutinized, justified and approved during the budgeting process.
The probe would also identify the ministries, departments, agencies or officials responsible for the entity's inclusion, and determine whether any funds have been released, committed or spent — including whether a bank account was opened or operated under the budget line.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, APC-Kano North, who presided over the session, ruled that the matter should not proceed to debate.
He said President Bola Tinubu has already directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate PFIPC and urged lawmakers to allow the executive branch to complete its inquiry first.
With the Senate deferring to the ICPC probe, the legislative investigation Kawu sought will not proceed for now.
The outcome of the ICPC's inquiry and whether the Senate revisits the matter depending on its findings remains to be seen.
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