The Senate on Wednesday blocked a motion to investigate the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council after Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin ruled that lawmakers should await the outcome of the ongoing investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
The decision came after a prolonged exchange between Barau, who presided over plenary, and Senator Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu (Kano South), who sought an inquiry into how the council, which the Presidency has publicly disowned, received over ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Rising under Orders 9 and Rule 9(c) of the Senate Standing Orders, Kawu argued that his motion was not intended to investigate alleged criminal conduct but to examine how the disputed body appeared in the national budget and secured legislative approval.
According to him, the agency was listed under Budget Code 0111062001 with a total allocation of ₦1.302 billion, comprising ₦802.98 million for personnel, ₦200 million for overhead and ₦300 million for capital expenditure.
Kawu maintained that the issue raised questions about the integrity of the budget preparation and appropriation process and fell within the Senate’s constitutional oversight responsibilities.
“The issues raised directly affect the integrity of the Senate, the credibility of the National Assembly and the effective exercise of our constitutional oversight and appropriation responsibilities,” he said.
He added that while the ICPC could investigate any alleged criminal offences arising from the controversy, it was the responsibility of the Senate to determine how the allocation passed through the appropriation process.
“This is the angle I am coming from—the angle of the budget, which is our constitutional responsibility,” the senator said.
Barau, however, questioned the need for a separate Senate inquiry, noting that President Bola Tinubu had already directed the ICPC to investigate the controversy surrounding the council.
After listening to Kawu’s submissions, the Deputy Senate President allowed the motion to be formally presented but ruled that the Senate should await the outcome of the anti-graft agency’s investigation before taking further action.
“The Presidency has taken up this matter by directing that the ICPC should investigate fully how this matter came to be. I think the ICPC has started. What we need to do at this stage is to have the report of the ICPC, and then we can act on that report and deal with it as we feel appropriate,” Barau said.
His ruling effectively halted consideration of Kawu’s proposal to refer the matter to the Senate Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions and Appropriations for investigation.
Earlier on Tuesday, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, had said the Senate had no petition before it on the PFIPC controversy.
According to him, the dispute involving the self-acclaimed Director-General of the council and the Presidency was an executive matter, adding that the National Assembly did not create the agency or insert it into the budget.
Adaramodu also said the Senate was constrained from commenting extensively because litigation was already pending on the matter, adding that lawmakers would only act if a formal petition was presented.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria faulted the decision to rely solely on the ICPC investigation.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group argued that while the anti-corruption agency could investigate possible criminal infractions, it could not replace the National Assembly’s constitutional oversight of the appropriation process.
“The fundamental question Nigerians are asking is simple: How could a supposedly fictitious agency allegedly function, circulate documents, seek official recognition, engage institutions and generate such nationwide controversy without systemic failures or possible complicity?” the group stated.
The Senate’s decision leaves unresolved, for now, the question raised during plenary over how an agency publicly described by the Presidency as non-existent was allocated more than ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 budget.