“The budget line being referred to, was not created or inserted by the National Assembly and it is not the duty of the Senate or the House of Representatives to carry out security checks on those supposedly appointed to head the various MDAs.”
The Senate on Tuesday said the ₦1.3 billion appropriated for the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 budget was ”neither recommended nor inserted” by the National Assembly.
The upper chamber said lawmakers are not constitutionally responsible for conducting security checks on individuals appointed to head government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and therefore cannot be held responsible for the controversy.
The Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, made the clarification while briefing journalists in his office at the National Assembly shortly after plenary.
“The budget line being referred to, was not created or inserted by the National Assembly and it is not the duty of the Senate or the House of Representatives to carry out security checks on those supposedly appointed to head the various MDAs,” the senator said.
Mr Adaramodu, who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District, also said the National Assembly would not intervene in the controversy because the matter is already before the court.
He maintained that the dispute is between Adeniyi Adeyemi, who is accused of forging government appointment letters and posing as director-general of the agency, and Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
“The allegations and counter allegations over fake agency and fake Director – General are all within the executive which should be sorted out by it, specifically between the office of the Chief of Staff and the alleged fake DG,” he added.
The senator added that the issue could only have been linked to the National Assembly if the Senate had screened and confirmed the controversial Director-General.
“If the alleged fake DG were to be one of the presidential appointees screened and confirmed by the Senate, the controversy might have been perceived to be somewhat linked to us.
“However, if a petition is sent to the Senate by any of the feuding parties or any concerned Nigerian on existence or non-existence of agency or DG, it will be legislatively looked into,” he added.
The controversy has generated widespread criticism after Mr Adeyemi was declared wanted for allegedly presenting himself as the DG of an agency the Presidency insists does not exist.
The Presidency accused Mr Adeyemi of forging government appointment letters and other official documents to falsely present himself as DG of the PFIPC and the Presidential Executive Advisory Council (PEAC), both of which it said are non-existent.
The police had arraigned Mr Adeyemi and two others before the Federal High Court on an eight-count charge. The case, filed on 27 November 2025, is scheduled for hearing on 27 July. However, Mr Adeyemi has remained in hiding since he was declared wanted.
In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES last Thursday, Mr Adeyemi denied forging any appointment letters. He described the government’s allegations as an attempt to silence him.
He also maintained that the agency was established in 2024 and claimed his life was in danger.
Earlier, Mr Adeyemi accused the president’s Chief of Staff of demanding 48 per cent of the ₦1.3 billion appropriated for the agency in the 2026 budget.
Mr Gbajabiamila, however, on Tuesday gave Mr Adeyemi 72 hours to retract allegations accusing him of corruption, abuse of office, fraud and murder, or face a ₦10 billion defamation suit and criminal proceedings.
A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had called on the federal government to institute an independent investigation into the controversy, stating that Nigerians deserve to know whether Mr Adeyemi acted alone or with the backing of government officials.
Similarly, a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Kabiru Turaki, urged the government to order a forensic investigation into the matter.