The Senate on Wednesday rejected a move to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the activities and controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC). The proposal for a full-scale probe was brought before the chamber by Senator Suleiman Kawu (APC, Kano South), who invoked a point of order during plenary to draw attention to the allegations surrounding the council.
Kawu, citing Order 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders (2026), presented a motion titled, “Urgent Need to Investigate the Budgetary Allocation, Operations, and Controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) to safeguard the Integrity of the Senate and the Federal Government.”
In his submission, the lawmaker argued that the controversy linked to the council posed a serious threat to the reputation of the Senate, the credibility of the National Assembly, and its constitutional responsibilities of oversight and budget approval.
“The Senate notes with concern that, in recent weeks, the public space has been inundated with allegations, controversies, accusations and counter-accusations concerning an entity known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC),” Kawu stated.
The senator called on the Senate to condemn what he described as possible administrative failures, internal collusion, or fraudulent activities that may have resulted in an alleged unauthorised body being included in the 2026 Appropriation Act under Budget Code 0111062001.
As part of his demands, Kawu requested that the Senate Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, as well as the Appropriations Committee, investigate the circumstances surrounding the proposed allocation of N1,302,978,784 to the PFIPC.
He also asked the committees to determine how the allocation was introduced, reviewed, justified and approved, identify the ministries, departments, agencies or officials involved, and establish whether any money had been released, committed, spent, or linked to bank accounts under the budget line.
However, the motion did not proceed to a debate after Deputy Senate President Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who presided over the session, ruled against opening discussions on the matter.
Jibrin explained that the Executive arm of government had already begun taking steps to investigate the allegations surrounding the council.
He said President Bola Tinubu had directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to look into the matter, urging senators to allow the ongoing investigation to be concluded before taking further action.