‘Fake’ Presidency Agency: Pressure Mounts For Probe As IMF, Budget Controversy Deepen Credibility Concerns

• Opposition Leaders Fault Alleged Off-Budget Spending, Demand Accountability
• FG Denies Spending ₦8tn Outside Approved Budget

Pressure mounted on the Federal Government yesterday as opposition leaders, legal experts and governance advocates demanded a thorough investigation into the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, while fresh concerns emerged over the International Monetary Fund’s disclosure that billions of naira in government expenditure were undertaken outside the approved budget framework.

NAIJAONPOINT gathered that the controversy, which has dominated public discourse in recent days, centres on conflicting claims over the existence of the council.

While the Presidency has maintained that no such agency exists and accused one Adeniyi Adeyemi of forgery and impersonation, documents circulating in the public domain reportedly indicate that the body appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation running into billions of naira.

The development has raised questions over transparency in public administration and the effectiveness of institutional oversight, with many Nigerians asking how an agency now described as non-existent allegedly found its way into official government records.

The debate intensified following comments by the IMF that Nigeria had recorded public expenditure equivalent to about two per cent of its Gross Domestic Product outside official budget documents, a development the Fund said obscured the country’s actual financing needs and weakened fiscal transparency.

Speaking in Lagos, the IMF Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, said about two per cent of GDP in government expenditure had not been reported in the budget, creating statistical discrepancies that complicated fiscal management.

According to the Fund, the expenditure was linked to major infrastructure projects executed outside the formal budget framework, although it acknowledged that the Federal Government had begun taking steps to improve budget reporting and transparency.

• Opposition Leaders Fault Alleged Off-Budget Spending, Demand Accountability

Reacting to the IMF’s disclosure, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election, Peter Obi, accused the Tinubu administration of entrenching what he described as “grand corruption.”

In a statement posted on his X handle on Sunday, Obi alleged that about N8.83tn spent in 2025 was not reflected in the national budget.

“The recent report from the IMF consultation further raises concerns about the scale of grand corruption under the Tinubu government.

“The IMF now reveals that about N8.83tn in expenditure undertaken in 2025 is not reflected in the budget. This expenditure is not budgeted and is therefore not under legislative oversight or administrative scrutiny. This is horrible,” Obi said.

The former Anambra State governor argued that the amount represented more than 35 per cent of the 2025 capital budget and exceeded the combined allocations to education and health.

“If such an amount is properly used and accounted for, it could transform Nigeria’s public health and education sectors,” he said, adding that the reported expenditure reflected “a pattern of grand corruption” under the current administration.

Obi renewed his call for President Bola Tinubu to resign, arguing that the administration had failed to demonstrate sufficient commitment to accountability, welfare and national security.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also demanded an independent investigation into the alleged ghost agency, saying the controversy raised fundamental questions about transparency in the Presidency.

He reportedly gave the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to provide satisfactory explanations and ensure a credible probe.

Similarly, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) called for the establishment of an independent judicial panel to investigate the matter, insisting that every official connected with the controversy should be subjected to scrutiny regardless of political status.

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, also questioned the Presidency’s handling of the controversy, urging that the matter be independently investigated to restore public confidence.

The twin controversies have generated widespread reactions across social media, with many Nigerians expressing disbelief that an allegedly fictitious agency could reportedly have offices, personnel and budgetary allocations before being declared non-existent. Others questioned the effectiveness of the National Assembly’s oversight function, arguing that lawmakers should have detected any irregularities during the appropriation process.

• FG Denies Spending ₦8tn Outside Approved Budget

Responding, the Federal Government in a statement by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele. dismissed reports alleging that it spent more than ₦8 trillion outside the 2026 budget, insisting that the claims misrepresent the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2026 Article IV Consultation Report and do not reflect Nigeria’s fiscal reality.

The government said the allegations wrongly interpreted the IMF’s observations to suggest that about two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was spent outside the approved budget, describing the claim as false and misleading.

The minister explained that Sections 80 to 83 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution permit the withdrawal and expenditure of public funds only in accordance with the Constitution and laws enacted by the National Assembly.

He said all Federal Government spending is carried out through duly enacted Appropriation Acts, Supplementary Appropriation Acts and other statutory approvals granted by the National Assembly.sembly.