Politics
Buhari Administration Originated Fake PFIPC, Budget Office Tells Reps
The Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr Tanimu Yakubu, disclosed this after appearing before members of the House of Representatives in Abuja, explaining how the agency came to be captured in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
According to Mr Yakubu, the institutional origin of the PFIPC was linked to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), inaugurated by the Buhari administration on October 9, 2019.
He said by the time preparations for the 2026 budget commenced, official instruments relating to the council had already been issued by relevant government institutions.
Mr Yakubu explained that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had assigned an administrative code to the PFIPC, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had approved an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver.
He said the applicable public service salary structure was also in place, adding that the Budget Office neither created the council nor assigned its administrative code or approved its establishment.
Rather, he said the office relied on the official instruments presented to it to determine the fiscal implications of the council’s operations.
The Budget Office DG disclosed that the council initially submitted a personnel estimate of N3.85 billion for the 2026 fiscal year.
However, the Budget Office independently reviewed the request and reduced the personnel provision to N802.978 million based on the authorised establishment, approved recruitment waiver, applicable salary structure and extant costing methodology.
He said the amount was subsequently included in the Executive Budget proposal and later appropriated by the National Assembly.
Mr Yakubu, however, clarified that the appropriation did not translate into the release of funds to the PFIPC.
He said the council could not access the personnel provision because it failed to obtain the required Financial Clearance, which is necessary before recruitment and payroll processes can commence.
According to him, the Budget Office did not issue Financial Clearance to the PFIPC because some regulatory conditions remained unmet, including confirmation by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission that the proposed staffing and remuneration arrangements complied with the approved public service framework.
He stressed that no recruitment took place, no pay roll record was created and no salary was paid to any employee of the council.
Mr Yakubu said the N802.978 million personnel provision represented 61.63 per cent of the total N1.303 billion appropriation for the PFIPC.
He further explained that personnel allocations are not released to agencies as lump sums but are paid into the bank accounts of verified employees enrolled on the Federal Government pay roll.
The controversy surrounding the PFIPC came to public attention in June 2026 after the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, declared the council fake and petitioned law enforcement agencies.
The council’s Director-General, Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, subsequently challenged the Presidency’s position and made allegations against Mr Gbajabiamila, which the Chief of Staff denied.
Mr Gbajabiamila has since instituted legal action against Prince Adeyemi over the allegations, while law enforcement authorities are investigating the wider PFIPC controversy.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also confirmed that two domiciliary accounts linked to the PFIPC had been opened on the directive of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The apex bank, however, said the accounts, denominated in US dollars and British pounds sterling, were never funded or operated.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
-
Business3 hours ago$50m Steel Pipe Facility: NCDMB Lauds Brentex, Assures Industry Patronage
-
Niger Delta2 hours agoCommunity Elects Monarch After 55yrs Interregnum … As King-elect Preaches Unity
-
Politics1 hour agoSpeak For Yourself, Otti Tells Uzodimma Over Tinubu’s Reelection Bid
-
Politics1 hour agoVotes Will Count In 2027, INEC Assures Nigerians
-
Politics1 hour agoCHRISTIAN FORUM PASSES CONFIDENCE VOTE ON TINUBU, WIKE, OTHERS
-
Business2 hours agoVet Doctors Vow Support To Check Rabies Spread In Rivers
-
Politics1 hour agoTinubu Felicitates Umahi @63, Says Works Minister Outstanding
-
Editorial2 hours agoImproving Surveillance in Rivers’ Boundary Communities