Budget Office Blocked PFIPC Funds, DG Tells Reps

The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, says no funds appropriated to the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council , PFIPC, were released because the agency failed to meet the legal requirements for public expenditure.

Kurfi made the disclosure while appearing before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the establishment and budgetary provisions of the council, whose legal status has come under scrutiny.

He explained that although the National Assembly appropriated ₦1.303 billion for the PFIPC in the 2026 Appropriation Act, the legal and administrative conditions required before any public funds could be released were never fulfilled.

According to him, the Budget Office neither established the council nor approved its creation, recruitment or administrative budget code, but only assessed the fiscal implications of documents transmitted to it through official government channels.

Kurfi further disclosed that while the council requested ₦3.85 billion as personnel cost, the Budget Office subjected the proposal to an independent review based on the approved establishment, recruitment waiver and the public service salary structure, reducing the figure to ₦802.98 million, which was subsequently captured in the Executive Budget and later appropriated by the National Assembly.

He maintained that the inclusion of funds in an Appropriation Act does not automatically translate into expenditure, stressing that the Budget Office blocked all requests for the release of funds to the PFIPC after determining that the council had not met the statutory conditions for accessing public funds.

According to him, appropriation merely authorises spending, while the actual release of funds is contingent on compliance with extant financial regulations, due process and other legal requirements.

The Director-General said the failure to satisfy those conditions prompted the Budget Office to withhold all fiscal approvals relating to the council, insisting that no public funds were disbursed despite the appropriation.

He reaffirmed the Budget Office’s commitment to transparency, accountability and prudent public financial management, adding that every request for the release of public funds must comply with the law.

The committee is investigating the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the PFIPC and the appropriation of ₦1.303 billion for the council in the 2026 budget following concerns over its legal status.

It is expected to continue its probe with further appearances by key government officials to determine how the council was included in the federal budget and whether any laws or financial regulations were breached.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji