The House of Representatives has launched an investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) over allegations that the body fraudulently operated as a federal agency and secured a ₦1.3 billion budget allocation despite lacking legal backing.
Lawmakers on Wednesday constituted an ad hoc committee chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, Chairman of the House Committee on Navy, to investigate how the purported agency made its way into the 2026 Appropriation Act and whether government procedures were compromised.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Gagdi and seconded by Kafilat Ogbara.
Presenting the motion, Gagdi argued that the alleged agency operated from the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja while presenting itself as a legitimate government institution, even though the Federal Government has maintained that no such agency was ever established by law.
He also questioned how the organisation allegedly secured a budget provision exceeding ₦1.3 billion.
“The House observes that reports indicate that the purported provision in excess of ₦1.3bn attributable to the entity found its way into the 2026 appropriation framework, raising fundamental questions of how a body without any authentic instrument of establishment would enter a federal budget,” Gagdi said.
The lawmaker warned that the incident could expose serious weaknesses in Nigeria’s budget preparation and approval process.
“The ease with which a single unestablished entity processed through official processes suggests a systematic vulnerability rather than an isolated lapse,” he added.
Gagdi clarified that the House investigation would not interfere with the ongoing court case involving the alleged Director-General of the council.
“This motion neither prejudges nor seeks to pre-empt the probe ordered by the President,” he said.
As part of its assignment, the committee will trace how the alleged budget allocation entered the appropriation process, invite the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and the Director-General of the Budget Office, verify the legal status of agencies captured in the 2025 and 2026 budgets, and receive briefings from security and anti-corruption agencies.
The House also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to ensure that no funds are released to the alleged agency pending the outcome of the investigation.
Supporting the motion, Chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Satomi Ahmad, described the matter as a threat to the integrity of Nigeria’s budget process.
“Gagdi has brought in a very important issue, which we must confront with a very loud voice in this chamber because it has affected the very integrity of our democracy and sanctity of our budgetary process,” Ahmad said.
Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu also backed the probe, revealing that he had previously been misled by officials of the alleged agency.
The committee has been given four weeks to submit its report to the House.
Source: House of Representatives
