Tanimu Yakubu, Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, appeared before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Tuesday to clarify how the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC) appeared in the 2026 national budget. He told the committee that his office did not create or approve the establishment of the councils. Instead, the Budget Office only calculated the personnel costs based on official documentation provided by the appropriate government bodies.
Yakubu further stated that although the National Assembly allocated N1,302,978,783 to the council, no funds were ever disbursed. He stressed that the necessary statutory conditions for releasing public money were not fulfilled.
During his presentation, the Director-General traced the council’s origins to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, which was inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari on October 9, 2019. He explained that prior to the Budget Office’s involvement, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had already assigned the council an administrative budget code. This code, he noted, formally recognized the council within the federal budget framework.
According to Yakubu, without this code, any spending entity cannot be recognized for budgeting purposes, cannot receive appropriations as a distinct unit, and cannot take part in the subsequent expenditure process.
