The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has dismissed claims linking the late former President Muhammadu Buhari to the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), insisting that the former president established only the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).
In a statement issued on Sunday, the group described reports connecting Buhari to the PFIPC as false, noting that the Presidency had already declared the council fake and that it is currently under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The BMO was reacting to comments made by the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, who told the House of Representatives that the PFIPC traced its roots to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated by Buhari on October 9, 2019.
Yakubu had said, “PEAC/PFIPC did not enter the 2026 budget merely because it asked for funds. The council had its origin in the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari on Oct. 9, 2019.”
Rejecting the claim, the BMO maintained that the PEAC was solely an advisory body made up of economists and financial experts under the chairmanship of Prof. Doyin Salami.
According to the organisation, the council neither operated as an independent government agency nor had a dedicated budget line throughout Buhari’s administration.
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The group explained that the activities of the PEAC were funded through presidential approvals processed by the Minister of Finance, while members served without salaries.
“They were not paid salaries, but office expenses were paid by the Permanent Secretary, State House, upon approval by the president,” the statement said.
The BMO also stated that following the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu in 2023, the Buhari-appointed council was neither reconstituted nor renewed.
It said members of the PEAC regarded their appointments as having ended with the expiration of Buhari’s tenure, adding that the office previously occupied by the council remained vacant until it was later assigned to other occupants.
The organisation insisted that attempts to associate the ongoing PFIPC controversy with the Buhari administration were unfounded and lacked factual basis.
It maintained that Buhari’s administration established only the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and not the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council currently being investigated by the ICPC.