Tinubu issues fresh order
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic investigation into the creation of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and other fake agencies uncovered within the Federal Government’s system.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting, presided over by Tinubu, was the first FEC session since June 29.
Oyedele said the decision followed updates presented to the President on the investigation conducted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
According to him, the investigation revealed that the fake council was not an isolated case, prompting the President to order a wider examination of government processes and controls.
Oyedele said, “That is to do with the fake agency that is called the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council. Mr President gave us the updates about the work the ICPC has done, and as a result of that, the council has directed that we commission a forensic investigation that will look into our processes, our procedures, internal control weaknesses that allow some of these things to happen, because the findings discovered that we indeed have additional fake agencies.
“What is important is to establish what went wrong, how it can be prevented, and going forward, how we can make our systems stronger. Systems are built when you find problems, you deal with them decisively, and that’s exactly what Mr President and council have directed today.”
Oyedele said Tinubu had directed that the investigation should also cover the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
He said the discovery of fake government agencies raised concerns about the possibility of fictitious workers being included on the Federal Government payroll.
Oyedele further stated, “Mr President directed that the review should extend to IPPIS, because if you have fake agencies, you most likely have fake employees.
“In a country where you would have seen Mr President doing everything to ensure we enhance payroll, salaries and wages, we can’t afford to have fake people hanging around. It undermines our ability to pay our people well, who are doing the hard work.”
The minister disclosed that ₦9.495 trillion generated through subsidy savings and increased revenue had been used to fund additional salaries and allowances for civil servants.
He said the amount was higher than the actual savings the Federal Government realised from removing the petrol subsidy.
Oyedele said the investigation would also examine how the fictitious agencies secured administrative and Treasury Single Account codes within the Federal Government system.
He noted that although the fake entities reached the stage of having accounts, no government funds were paid into them.
The minister further stated, “They managed to register and obtain an administrative code as well as a TSA code. The only thing that didn’t happen was that we didn’t pay any money to those accounts.
“But it’s gone too far to even get to that level. Now the idea is we want to find out what went wrong and strengthen the system.”
He said the Attorney-General of the Federation and his ministry had been directed to work with relevant government institutions to address the issue from administrative, accounting and governance perspectives.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the ICPC findings showed that the problem extended beyond the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
According to Idris, investigators identified at least two other fictitious agencies operating within the system.
Idris said, “The President was informed that it is not just about the so-called Presidential Foreign Promotion Council and the fake DG that was there, but that there were at least two additional fake agencies that were in that process.
“So what the President said was that this is not just about accounting; it is also about the administrative looseness that was discovered by the ICPC.”
Idris said Tinubu had directed the Attorney-General and Finance Minister to jointly examine the government’s administrative and accounting procedures and engage professional audit firms to conduct a comprehensive forensic review.
The minister said the objective was to permanently close the loopholes that allowed the scandal to occur.
He added, “So that we have a forensic, total evaluation of this system, with a view to plugging this once and for all, so we don’t have this national embarrassment again
“I want you to know that this didn’t just happen now. It is possible that this dates back longer than when the President was in office.
“The President is not just looking at this; he is looking at the possibility that this may also have occurred elsewhere, and trying to find a solution that will block this from recurring going forward
