For the second time in two weeks, the Senate has slammed the door on an independent investigation into the mysterious ₦1.3 billion budget allocation for a Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council that the Presidency insists does not exist.
Senator Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu (Kano South) made another fiery push on Wednesday to compel the upper chamber to dig into how the phantom agency’s funding slipped into the 2026 Appropriation Act. But Senate President Godswill Akpabio shut it down, citing two roadblocks: the matter is sub judice (already before a court), and President Bola Tinubu has given the ICPC 30 days to investigate.
“If we go into it now, we will probably be jumping the gun,” Akpabio ruled.
Kawu had argued that the Senate has a constitutional duty to protect the integrity of its own budget process regardless of executive action. “Who came to the National Assembly to defend the agency?” he demanded. But his colleagues stood firm, refusing to entertain the motion even under “Matters of Urgent Public Importance.”
The scandal deepened after Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claimed to be the agency’s Director-General, was arrested and charged with impersonation. He also rocked the presidency by alleging that Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila demanded a ₦400m bribe and 48% of a proposed ₦27.4bn take-off grant claims the Presidency has flatly denied.
With the ICPC now racing against a 30-day deadline, and the courts poised to rule, the Senate has made its position clear: for now, it’s hands off.
