The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, has clarified that no funds appropriated for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC) were ever released or spent, insisting that Nigeria’s public expenditure control system prevented the appropriation from becoming actual expenditure.
In a media statement issued on Friday, Yakubu explained that although the National Assembly appropriated funds for the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act, the legal and administrative conditions required for the release of public funds were never fulfilled.
According to him, an appropriation alone does not authorize spending, as government funds can only be released after mandatory processes such as Financial Clearance, lawful recruitment, payroll enrolment, Treasury warranting, cash backing and procurement approvals have been completed.
He stated that none of these requirements was met in the case of PEAC/PFIPC, preventing any public funds from being disbursed.
Yakubu explained that the Budget Office only assessed the fiscal implications of official documents submitted by relevant government agencies, including the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He noted that while the council proposed a personnel budget of about ₦3.85 billion, the Budget Office independently reduced the estimate to ₦802.98 million using approved government salary structures and established costing methodology.
The Director-General further disclosed that the Budget Office declined to issue Financial Clearance because the required legal conditions had not been satisfied, including confirmation from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission on the proposed staffing and remuneration structure.
As a result, he said, no recruitment was carried out, no employees were enrolled on the federal payroll and no salaries were paid.
Yakubu also clarified that the ₦200 million overhead allocation never became available for spending because Treasury warranting, cash backing and other statutory approvals were withheld.
He revealed that after concerns emerged in June 2026 regarding the legal status of the council, the Budget Office formally requested the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to suspend all payment processes relating to the council.
Similarly, he said the ₦300 million capital allocation never reached the procurement stage, as no procurement approvals, Ministerial Tenders Board decisions, Bureau of Public Procurement Certificate of No Objection or Treasury releases were obtained.
According to Yakubu, the safeguards built into Nigeria’s public financial management system functioned effectively by preventing any unauthorized expenditure.
“The law did not recover money after it had gone. It prevented the money from going,” he said.
The Budget Office maintained that no personnel expenditure was incurred, no overhead funds were released and no capital projects commenced under the PEAC/PFIPC appropriation.
Yakubu reaffirmed the Budget Office’s commitment to cooperating with all lawful investigations and pledged to provide all relevant records, correspondence and financial documents required to establish the facts surrounding the appropriation.