The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation has dismissed claims that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council received public funds, saying the council has no operational account with the Central Bank of Nigeria and has not been paid any money by the Federal Government.
The clarification followed growing controversy over the council after reports that it was granted approval to recruit 300 workers and had received budgetary allocations.
Speaking at the weekend, the Director of Public Relations at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, said no government funds had been released to the council because it had not completed the process required to activate a CBN account.
According to him, although an application was made to open an account, the process remained incomplete because the agency failed to submit the names of authorised signatories and other required documents.
“You cannot open an account at the CBN without authorisation from the Accountant General. The account has not become operational because the necessary requirements have not been fulfilled,” he said.
Mokwa explained that the convener of the council, Adeniyi Adeyemi, had approached the OAGF with an appointment letter, prompting the account opening process, but added that the documentation presented related to an existing agency rather than the PFIPC.
He stressed that the absence of an operational account made it impossible for the government to transfer any funds to the council.
“The account, till today, has not seen the light of day. It has not seen one kobo because the account is not completely operational. The Accountant General has not released a dime because there is no account through which such payment can be made,” he said.
Mokwa also denied reports that salaries had been paid to workers of the council, maintaining that, to the knowledge of the OAGF, the agency had not employed any staff.
He explained that federal agencies must first secure approvals from the Federal Character Commission, the Budget Office and the Federal Civil Service Commission before recruiting workers and enrolling them on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System for salary payments.
“He cannot capture even one name without those approvals because once they are captured, payment will come from the budget,” Mokwa added.
The clarification comes despite provisions in the 2026 Appropriation Act listing the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council under the Presidency with a budgetary allocation of over N1.3bn for personnel, overhead and capital expenditure.
The OAGF, however, maintained that the council had not reached the stage where it could access government funds, insisting that all statutory procedures must be completed before any disbursement could be made.
