PFIPC Probe: Accountant-General Makes Fresh Revelations

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen
Ogunjimi, says a fake State House letter helped the controversial Presidential
Economic Advisory Council, PFIPC, gain recognition

 

Ogunjimi made this known on Monday while fielding questions
from the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee probing the circumstances
surrounding the establishment and operations of the council.

The lawmakers uncovered how a letter purportedly originating
from the State House was allegedly used to secure official government
recognition for the contentious PFIPC

Ogunjimi told the committee that the Office of the
Accountant-General acted on what appeared to be a genuine State House
correspondence requesting the creation of an administrative code for the
council, only for investigations to later reveal that the letter did not
originate from the Presidency.

The Accountant-General said the first interaction between
his office and the purported council occurred in November 2024.

He said a letter dated November 7, 2024, bearing a State
House reference number, requested the creation of an administrative code for
the Presidential Economic Advisory Council for budgeting, accounting and
reporting purposes.

According to him, following established procedures, the
Office of the Accountant-General created the administrative code and
communicated the approval back to the State House while copying the Office of
the Auditor-General.

The AGF explained that his office subsequently received
additional requests from the purported council, including applications for
self-accounting status, staff deployment, Treasury Single Account, TSA, and
domiciliary accounts, and funding approvals.

However, he stressed that despite the processing of some
administrative requests, no government funds were ever released to the council.

“It is important to note that no funds were released under
salaries, overhead, capital, or any form of intervention or special allocation
to the council,” Ogunjimi told lawmakers.

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