The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has dismissed reports that the late President Muhammadu Buhari founded the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), characterising the allegation as fake.
In a statement released on Sunday, the organization stated Buhari established only the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), not the PFIPC, which the Presidency has deemed false and which is now under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The director-general of the federal budget office, Tanimu Yakubu, informed the House of Representatives that the PFIPC originated from the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, which was established by Buhari on October 9, 2019, prompting the subsequent response.
According to Yakubu, PEAC/PFIPC was not included in the 2026 budget just because it requested money. The late President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, which began on October 9, 2019, was the precursor of the current council.
Yet, BMO maintained that the assertion was false. According to the institution, the PEAC was just an advisory group including economics and financial specialists directed by Prof. Doyin Salami.
The group explained that the PEAC did not have a budget line during Buhari’s administration. Instead, its functions were supported through presidential approvals handled by the Minister of Finance.
It further said members of the council were not paid wages, adding that “They were not paid salaries but office expenses were paid by the Permanent Secretary, State House, upon approval by the president.”
The BMO further noted that once President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023, the Buhari-appointed PEAC was neither abolished nor reappointed.
It said the members considered their appointments to have ended when Buhari left office, while the office used by the council remained vacant until it was later occupied by others.
According to the group, there is no truth to the claims that the Buhari administration is involved in the PFIPC scandal.