ABUJA, NIGERIA — Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, has flatly punctured the Presidency’s defensive narratives regarding the ongoing Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) budget scam. He declared that it is structurally impossible for an un-legislated “phantom agency” to slide a ₦1.3 billion allocation into the national budget without deep executive collusion or systematic administrative collapse.
Reacting to the ongoing criminal prosecution of suspected syndicate head Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the former SGF stated that standard public finance protocols do not allow money to be appropriated to a non-existent entity. Lawal completely rejected claims that the agency operated under the radar, emphasizing that the legal and administrative architecture of Nigeria requires explicit approvals from the highest levels of government before any fund line-item can be created.
“There Must Be Executive Input”
Lawal dismantled the notion that a rogue entity could independently infiltrate pages 50 and 51 of the 2026 Appropriation Act, securing ₦1.3 billion for personnel, overheads, and capital projects without clearance from the very top of the civil service hierarchy.
The former SGF gave a breakdown of how the federal bureaucracy handles monetary proposals, proving that the Presidency’s current stance—posing as completely unaware victims—fails basic administrative tests:
“There has to be a legal basis for its existence, but first, it is the executive that raises such an agency and makes the proposal before further approvals by the Accountant General and the legislature,” Lawal explained. “I don’t know how it can happen… because all such agencies report to the Office of the Secretary to the Government. Appointment letters are signed by the Secretary to the Government”.
The Backdoor Route and Total Oversight Failure
Lawal noted that the structural timeline of budget compilation makes the current scandal look like an insider operation. He clarified that before the President ever signs a completed budget into law, the proposals must undergo technical drafting, clear the Budget Office, receive ratification from the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and be defended directly by supervising ministers.
| Budget Filter Stage | Mandated Action / Oversight Requirement | Status in PFIPC Probe |
| MDA Compilation | Proposals must originate from a verified, statutory institution. | FAILED — Council was completely fictitious. |
| FEC Approval | Federal Executive Council must review and ratify all expenditure line items. | BYPASSED — Inserted without executive council review. |
| NASS Defense | Agency officials must appear before legislative committees to defend requested funds. | FAILED — Approved through an alleged backdoor arrangement. |
Insiders within the National Assembly have already confirmed that the ₦1.3 billion controversial entry was sneaked in through a backdoor arrangement without Prince Adeniyi or any real official ever presenting themselves before the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service to defend the figures.
Demands for an Open, Unbiased Probe
With the suspect already asserting that the council successfully secured physical office space at the Federal Secretariat and operated formal accounts through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lawal warned that the allegations are too severe to be swept under the carpet with simple press denials.
The former SGF insisted that an urgent, independent probe must be carried out to uncover every collaborator within the National Assembly, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, and the Central Bank. Independent civil society networks have heavily backed Lawal’s position, stating that if the presidency continues to shield high-ranking cabinet ministers while refusing to address the obvious administrative loopholes that allowed a fake agency to access public funds, the entire integrity of the national budget stands permanently compromised.
