Nigeria’s Phantom Council: The State Says It Does Not Exist. Its Records Say Otherwise.

The record

An office in Abuja's Federal Secretariat complex. Seven official number plates, from “PFIPC 01” to “PFIPC 07”, one attached to a bulletproof 2024 Lexus LX. An administrative code in the government's accounting system. A national budget allocation of about 1.3 billion naira.

Most of the outward signs of a government institution appear in the file of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC). The missing element is the institution itself. According to Nigeria's Presidency, no such council exists under the current administration and nobody has been appointed to lead it.

A House of Representatives investigative committee chaired by Yusuf Gagdi is pursuing that contradiction: how did an institution said not to exist collect genuine approvals from genuine government offices?

“No such office exists”

The Presidency's position is explicit. A statement issued on 11 June 2026 under the signature of President Bola Tinubu's Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, made two points about Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as the council's head: no such office exists under this administration, and no such appointment has been made. The statement also warned foreign missions, financial institutions and security agencies.

But the budget had already been written. The 2026 budget, signed into law on 31 March 2026, included a combined line under the Presidency for the “Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council” (PEAC/PFIPC). It provided approximately 803 million naira for personnel, 200 million for overheads and 300 million for capital expenditure: 1,302,978,784 naira in total. The institution the Presidency said did not exist had entered the Presidency's own budget heading two and a half months before that statement.

Adeyemi did not back down. At a press conference in Abuja, he challenged the statement. He said the council had accounts at the Central Bank, an office in the Federal Secretariat and approval from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation for more than 300 staff. He called for an independent investigation.

A budget line, but no money released

According to the Budget Office, no funds were paid out under the allocation. Director-General Tanimu Yakubu addressed the committee on 24 July. He said the council had requested 3.85 billion naira for personnel costs; the office rejected that figure and recalculated it at about 803 million. The conditions for expenditure were never fulfilled. Financial clearance required before recruitment and salary payments was not issued, and the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission did not approve the staffing and pay structure. When questions arose about the body's legal status, the Budget Office told the Finance Ministry and the Accountant-General's Office in June to suspend all payment instructions. Yakubu summed it up: “Not a single kobo was withdrawn.” A kobo is one hundredth of a naira.

This is a central limit of the reporting: a budget entry does not establish that money was paid. The committee's interim report of 2 September had not itself yet determined whether spending authority, cash backing or an actual transfer existed.

The question is how the allocation entered the budget. The trail leads to a letter.

A false letter, a genuine reply

A letter dated 7 November 2024, apparently originating from the Presidency, asked the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for an administrative code for the council. Accountant-General Shamseldeen Ogunjimi described this to the committee on 27 July: the code was requested for budgeting, accounting and financial reporting. His office created it, notified the Presidency of the approval and informed the Auditor-General. Further requests followed: self-accounting status, staff deployment, a Treasury Single Account and foreign-currency accounts, and funding approvals. Ogunjimi stressed that no public money had been transferred to the body, despite the administrative approvals.

The Presidency, however, said the letter had never originated there. According to the committee's interim report, the unit named in the letter did not exist in that form, and the purported signatory had never held that post. The Presidency neither wrote nor authorised it.

The Accountant-General's reply was genuine; the office confirmed that to the committee. More strikingly, officials acknowledged that the reply should not have been handed to Adeyemi and should have been sent through a verified official channel. The committee is examining why this happened: negligence, inadequate verification, failure to follow procedure or deliberate facilitation? It also stresses that no official will be deemed culpable without being heard.

The questionable documents extend beyond this letter. In the committee's preliminary findings, Adeyemi's appointment letter was fabricated and falsely attributed to the Presidency. The purported “Presidential Executive Order No. 5” of 24 February 2026, reportedly used to provide a legal foundation for the body, was also not authentic, according to the committee.

Office, staff, number plates

The institution on paper acquired a physical presence. According to the interim report, the council occupied part of a space in the Federal Secretariat complex previously assigned to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The committee says some officials made that space available without a lawful allocation by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service.

About 39 people across different grades were listed or presented as staff. The committee is examining how they were recruited, who issued appointment letters and identity cards, whether salaries were paid and whether anyone paid to secure a job. It says it will distinguish those deceived from those who knowingly participated.

The number plates may be the most tangible part of the story. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) acknowledged before the committee that it issued seven official plates to the council. It relied on documents supplied by the council, information on its website and its stated office address. Vehicles with verified chassis numbers were a bulletproof 2024 Lexus LX, two Toyota Land Cruisers and four Toyota Hiluxes. All seven received plates between “PFIPC 01” and “PFIPC 07”. According to the committee, those approvals rested on misleading or fabricated documents.

58 accounts, 400 million naira

The money trail remains unresolved. According to the interim report, around 58 bank accounts are linked to Adeyemi through his BVN, Nigeria's bank verification number, and other identity details. More than 30 were operated in the names of roughly nine institutions, companies, foundations and similar entities. The committee explicitly says it has not concluded that all these accounts and entities are unlawful. Registration records, beneficial ownership, signing powers and transactions remain under examination.

In a separate complaint, a company alleges that it paid approximately 400 million naira between May and July 2025 on the promise of securing a contract to renovate and furnish an official residence said to have been assigned to Adeyemi as director-general. Adeyemi reportedly told the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) that the money was a loan. The committee is examining the receiving accounts, the status of the residence and whether any public official benefited. It says only a competent court can determine criminal liability.

The signature behind the denial

There is a political dimension. Adeyemi had alleged that Gbajabiamila, who signed the Presidency's statement, demanded a share of a take-off grant for the body. Gbajabiamila denied this and filed a 15-billion-naira defamation suit. According to the committee's preliminary findings, the documents do not show that he authorised, endorsed or participated in the body's activities. Instead, they show that within a day of concerns arising, he alerted the police, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In its preliminary assessment, the committee commended those steps. The ICPC also found no evidence linking Gbajabiamila to Adeyemi's appointment.

Before the court

On 30 September, Adeyemi pleaded not guilty to all eight counts of forgery and impersonation read before the Federal High Court in Abuja. One concerns an appointment letter purporting to bear Gbajabiamila's signature and to show that President Tinubu appointed him. The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation took over the case brought by the police. The court ordered Adeyemi to remain in Kuje prison pending a decision on bail. Bail and trial proceedings were scheduled for 12–13 October. There is no conviction, and Adeyemi is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

Genuine signatures

The distinction between a budget entry and a payment remains central to this file. But the records raise a broader question. Who carried out which checks before an institution whose legal existence had not been verified was given a code, an office, number plates and a budget line? At what stage did the allocation enter the budget, at whose request, and how was it scrutinised before approval? Did any of these agencies ask the Presidency itself whether the letter had genuinely originated there?

Each genuine approval may have become a fresh credential for the next application. The FRSC's statement that it also relied on the council's office address when issuing the plates shows how that chain could work. A false letter may have opened the door. But many of the approvals that followed bore genuine signatures.