The Senate has distanced the National Assembly from the controversy surrounding the alleged allocation of about N1.3 billion to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 Appropriation Act, insisting that the budget line was neither created nor inserted by the legislature.

The upper chamber also declined to comment further on the controversy, saying there was no petition before it to warrant legislative intervention and that the matter was already before the court.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu, stated this on Tuesday at the National Assembly.

His comments come amid growing public concern over how the PFIPC, an entity the Presidency insists does not exist, appeared in the 2026 budget with an allocation of about N1.3 billion.

The controversy has dominated public discourse in recent weeks following claims and counterclaims involving the alleged Director-General of the PFIPC, Adeyemi Mathew, and the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila.

While Gbajabiamila has disowned both the agency and its purported Director-General, describing the allegations against him as false, Adeyemi has maintained that the Presidency was aware of the agency through the Chief of Staff.

He also alleged that he paid Gbajabiamila N400 million to facilitate his appointment and that the Chief of Staff later demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s approximately N1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 budget. Gbajabiamila has denied the allegations.

Responding to questions on whether the Senate would investigate the matter, Adaramodu said no petition had been submitted to the Senate by any of the parties involved or by any concerned Nigerian.

“There is no petition before the Senate on the matter,” he said.

According to him, the allegations and counter-allegations are issues within the executive arm of government and should be resolved there.

“The allegations and counter allegations over fake agency and fake Director-General are all within the Executive, which should sort them out, specifically between the Office of the Chief of Staff and the alleged fake Director-General,” he said.

Adaramodu acknowledged that the alleged agency had a budget line in the 2026 Appropriation Act but stressed that the controversy did not originate from the National Assembly.

“The budget line being referred to was not created or inserted by the National Assembly, and it is not the duty of the Senate or the House of Representatives to carry out security checks on those supposedly appointed to head the various MDAs,” he said.

He added that the matter had already become the subject of litigation, making it inappropriate for the Senate to comment further in line with parliamentary rules.

“If the alleged fake Director-General were one of the presidential appointees screened and confirmed by the Senate, the controversy might have been perceived to be somewhat linked to us,” he added.

The Senate spokesman, however, said the upper chamber remained open to investigating the matter if it was formally brought before it.

“If a petition is sent to the Senate by any of the feuding parties or any concerned Nigerian on the existence or non-existence of the agency or the Director-General, it will be legislatively looked into,” Adaramodu said. (Daily Sun)

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