Nigeria: ICPC Indicts Budget Office Over Inclusion of Fake Agency in 2026 Budget

What the report says

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has faulted Nigeria’s Budget Office of the Federation for admitting a purported agency, the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), into the 2026 federal budget without proper due diligence. The report says the budget office processed the body despite incomplete documentation and without independently confirming its legal status. The case centers on Abuja-based federal budgeting processes and on questions over how a group the government says never existed was able to move through official systems.

According to Premium Times, the ICPC found that the Budget Office relied on administrative and establishment-related documents attributed to other federal offices, but did not verify their authenticity or the council’s legal foundation. Investigators said the file included a scanned establishment document rather than direct official transmission, and that required information such as an approved salary structure, overhead estimates and capital estimates was missing when the proposal was handled.

The commission said the office still calculated a budget allocation using public service salary assumptions and similar-agency comparisons, arriving at about N1.3 billion, although it found no evidence that the money was actually released or spent. Premium Times also noted that the 2026 Appropriation Act had earlier shown an allocation tied to the PFIPC, and that the person presenting himself as the council’s head, Adeniyi Adeyemi, faces criminal charges that he denies.

The findings matter because they point to weaknesses in internal controls around budget onboarding and verification of new agencies. The ICPC said standard procedures for checking submissions and escalating deficiencies were not effectively applied, raising broader governance concerns about how fictitious or unapproved entities can gain recognition inside federal institutions.