By Abbanobi -Eku Onyeka
The Senate on Tuesday said it has no petition before it to wade into the controversy surrounding an alleged fake agency, the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, and its purported Director General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Mathew.
Senate Spokesman, Senator Yemi Adaramodu (Ekiti South), disclosed this to journalists after plenary in Abuja.
He said the Red Chamber would not intervene until a formal complaint is received from any of the feuding parties or concerned Nigerians.
Recall that in the past weeks, controversy had engulfed the polity over the alleged non-existent PFIPC and the face-off between the purported DG and the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.
While the Chief of Staff disowned the agency and its DG by raising the alarm, the alleged DG countered by claiming that PFIPC is well known to the Presidency through Gbajabiamila.
He further alleged that the Chief of Staff collected N400 million from him for the appointment and demanded 48% of the N1.3 billion appropriated for the agency in the 2026 budget.
Seeking the Senate’s position on the raging controversy, Adaramodu said for now there is nothing before the chamber to warrant comments or legislative action.
He admitted that as reported in the media, the alleged fake agency has a budget line in the 2026 Appropriation Act, but noted that the issue should be sorted out by the executive where it originated.
He added that because the matter is already being litigated, the Senate in line with its rules would not dabble into it.
“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 said.
Adaramodu further clarified that the budget line was not created or inserted by the National Assembly.
“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,” he stated.
He explained that the Senate’s involvement would only arise if the alleged DG were a presidential appointee screened and confirmed by the chamber.
“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,” he said.
The Senate Spokesman, however, left the door open for future action.
“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 said.
