A policy expert has criticized the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, for disowning the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and its promoter, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi. Dr. Temitope Musowo described the disclaimer as a futile attempt to cover up corruption within the presidency.
In a statement on Friday, Dr. Musowo argued that the 2026 budget, a fiscal document, confirms the existence of the PFIPC and that public funds were allocated to it. This contradicts Gbajabiamila's statement on Thursday, which disowned the council and warned the public that it does not exist under the current administration.
Gbajabiamila had said: "It has come to the notice of the Federal Government of Nigeria and specifically the Office of the Chief of Staff to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that a certain Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, under the auspices of an alleged organisation styled as the 'Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council' is portraying himself to the general public as having been appointed by my office. The unsuspecting public is hereby advised to note that such an office does not exist under this administration and no appointment has been made in that regard."
However, Dr. Musowo cited budget pages 50 and 51 to back his claim, calling the Chief of Staff's attempt to deny the council's existence an act of corruption. He posed several questions demanding clarity: How was the PFIPC included in the 2026 budget if it does not exist? Who inserted it and on whose authority? How did it pass through the National Assembly without objections? How did the President sign it? He also asked why the council operated openly for nearly two years within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja without any government intervention.
Dr. Musowo called on Gbajabiamila to provide transparent answers to these questions, emphasizing that the Nigerian people deserve accountability from public institutions. He stressed that such matters should not be resolved through denials alone but through full disclosure of verifiable facts.
