The Buhari Media Organisation has dismissed claims that the late former President Muhammadu Buhari created the alleged fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, insisting that the former administration only established the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
The group, in a statement issued on Sunday, described reports linking Buhari to the controversial agency currently under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission as false and misleading.
The rebuttal followed remarks by the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Tanimu Yakubu, who told members of the House of Representatives on Friday that the origin of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council could be traced to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated by Buhari on October 9, 2019.
Yakubu had also explained how the controversial body appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act, saying its institutional roots were based on the Presidential Economic Advisory Council established during Buhari’s administration.
However, the Buhari Media Organisation maintained that the Presidential Economic Advisory Council was a legitimate advisory body and had no connection with the alleged fake agency.
According to the organisation, the council operated as a part-time advisory team made up of renowned economists and financial experts under the chairmanship of Prof. Doyin Salami before his appointment as Chief Economic Adviser to the President.
It listed other members of the council as Prof. Mahmuda Sagagi, Prof. Ode Ojowu, Dr Shehu Yahaya, Dr Iyabo Masha, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Mr Bismark Rewane and Dr Mohammed Salisu, who served as secretary.
The BMO said the advisory council had no budgetary allocation throughout Buhari’s administration, stressing that its activities were funded only through presidential approvals granted to the Minister of Finance.
It added that members of the council were not paid salaries, while office expenses were settled by the Permanent Secretary, State House, following presidential approval.
The organisation further explained that the council operated from offices on the second floor of the Federal Secretariat, which also housed the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser.
According to the statement, the current administration neither dissolved nor reappointed members of the advisory council after assuming office in 2023, adding that the members voluntarily exited because they considered their appointments to have ended with Buhari’s tenure.
It also claimed that the office remained vacant for years after the end of the Buhari administration before it was later occupied by others.
The group rejected suggestions that the ongoing controversy over the alleged fake agency originated from Buhari’s government, describing such claims as “false, groundless and lacking any factual basis.”
The controversy comes amid ongoing investigations by the ICPC into the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council after the Presidency declared the body non-existent. The matter has also drawn scrutiny from the House of Representatives over its inclusion in the 2026 budget.
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