Nigeria is facing mounting scrutiny over its public finances after allegations that a non-existent government agency received a budget allocation emerged alongside a bitter dispute over the implementation of the country’s national budget.
At the centre of the controversy is the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an entity the Presidency says was never legally established.
Investigators are examining claims that the body was inserted into the 2026 Appropriation Act, allocated ₦1.3 billion (about US$950,000), operated from the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, opened bank accounts and recruited more than 300 staff before questions were raised over its legitimacy.
The allegations surfaced during scrutiny of the 2026 budget, prompting questions over how the purported agency allegedly bypassed government oversight and appeared to obtain official recognition despite lacking legal authorisation.
In a statement, the Presidency said the PFIPC “was never established by the Federal Government of Nigeria and has no basis in any law, presidential instrument, executive approval or other lawful act of government”.
It added: “The integrity of the Presidency and the institutions of the Federal Government must be protected against impersonation, forgery, abuse of official identity and the exploitation of weaknesses in the public service.”
The Presidency has directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter, while Nigeria’s House of Representatives has launched a separate parliamentary inquiry.
Authorities allege that the organisation’s purported Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, relied on forged appointment documents to present himself as a presidential appointee.
Matthew has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the organisation was lawfully established and saying he intends to defend himself in court.
The alleged “ghost agency” scandal has unfolded alongside growing parliamentary criticism of the federal government’s management of public finances.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Tahir Monguno criticised the executive for failing to implement the outstanding provisions of the 2025 budget before carrying the remaining allocations into the 2026 fiscal cycle.
He reportedly described the failure to fully implement an approved national budget as a “breach of the law” and warned that it could amount to an impeachable offence.
Lawmakers also questioned why several revenue-generating agencies reported exceeding their targets while key sectors, including national security agencies, allegedly received no capital allocations.
The Ministry of Finance has rejected allegations of “shadow budgeting” and denied claims of an ₦8 trillion off-budget spending scheme.
It maintains that multi-year capital project rollovers and statutory transfers are lawful and comply with Nigeria’s constitutional budgeting framework.
Together, the two controversies have intensified concerns over transparency, accountability and oversight in Nigeria’s public finances.
Separate investigations are continuing into both the alleged ghost agency and the government’s management of budget implementation, with the outcomes expected to face close public and parliamentary scrutiny.
