By BONIFACE AKARAH

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has dismissed claims linking late former President Muhammadu Buhari to the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC/PEAC) and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), insisting that reports suggesting the disputed body originated under Buhari's administration are false.

The BMO was reacting to an attempt by the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, to link Buhari with the fake PFIPC/PEAC saga. Yakubu had, last week, while appearing before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the establishment and budgetary provisions of PFIPC/PEAC that the controversial Council, traced its institutional origin to the PEAC inaugurated by erstwhile President Buhari on October 9, 2019.

However, the BMO in a statement made available to News Express over the weekend said that Buhari while serving as President established only the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), describing it as an ad hoc advisory body that operated without a budget line and was funded through presidential approvals handled by the Minister of Finance. It maintained that Buhari neither created the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council nor any fictitious agency allocated N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation. The organisation added that reports linking the current controversy to the Buhari administration were "false, groundless, and lack any factual basis."

"President Buhari did not create a fictitious agency, the so-called 'Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC)'/'Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC)', that was allegedly allocated N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation," the statement said.

The organization explained that the PEAC initially operated from offices within the Federal Secretariat designated for the Chief Economic Adviser to the President and functioned solely as an advisory body comprising economists and financial experts.

It said the council was chaired by Prof. Doyin Salami before his appointment as Chief Economic Adviser to the President, while Prof. Mahmuda Sagagi served as vice chairman. Other members, according to the statement, included Prof. Ode Ojowu, Dr. Shehu Yahaya, Dr. Iyabo Masha, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Mr. Bismarck Rewane and Dr. Mohammed Adaya Salisu, who served as secretary.

"They were not paid salaries but office expenses were paid by the Permanent Secretary, State House, upon approval by the President," the organisation stated.

According to BMO, the PEAC had no dedicated budget under the Buhari administration, with its activities financed through presidential approvals rather than statutory budgetary allocations.

The organisation further stated that when the Tinubu administration assumed office in 2023, it neither dissolved the Buhari-appointed council nor reappointed its members, adding that the members regarded their tenure as having ended with the expiration of the administration that appointed them.

It also claimed that the office previously used by the council remained vacant until it was occupied several years later.

"News reports saying that the ongoing comedy-drama on the alleged fictitious government agency is rooted in the Buhari administration are false, groundless, and lack any factual basis," the statement added.