House launches probe of N1.3 bn PFIPC budget allocation

The House of Representatives has resolved to launch a comprehensive investigation into how a budgetary allocation of N1.3 billion for the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) was included in the 2026 federal budget. The decision, taken on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, follows weeks of controversy over the existence of the council and allegations of forgery and impersonation.

An ad hoc committee, chaired by Representative Yusuf Gagdi, has been mandated to trace the disputed allocation from the executive's budget proposal through the legislative process. The committee is tasked with identifying the stage at which the allocation was introduced, determining how existing scrutiny mechanisms failed to detect it, and recommending measures to prevent similar occurrences. The probe will focus solely on the budgetary process and institutional failures, not on ongoing criminal proceedings.

The investigation was prompted by a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Gagdi, who warned that the incident exposed serious weaknesses in the country's appropriation system. He argued that the ease with which the alleged agency gained official recognition pointed to...