The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has denied alleged creation of account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The OAGF maintained the agency managed by its self-acclaimed Director-General, Adeniyi Matthew, had no operational account with the CBN.
It also denied alleged payment of staff attached to the agency
Bawa Mokwa, he Director of Public Relations at the OAGF, made this known in a statement issued during the weekend over the alleged involvement of the office in the allocation of funds to the agency.
Mokwa reportedly noted that neither public funds nor salaries have been paid to the organisation.
While admitting that an application was made to open a CBN account, the OAGF however claimed the process was never completed because the required documentation to activate the account was not submitted.
“You cannot open an account at the CBN without authorization from the Accountant General. The accountant general will authorise them to open an account at the CBN,” Mokwa said.
The director disclosed how Adeniyi approached the OAGF and presented an appointment letter, but alleged that the document related to an already existing agency rather than the PFIPC.
Mokwa said that the account-opening process began based on the document that was presented, but the account could not become operational because the names of the officials expected to serve as account signatories were never provided.
He noted there was no channel through which the office of the accountant-general could release government funds to the agency due to the absence of an operational account, stressing that the agency did not receive any budgetary allocation from the federal government.
“The account, till today, has not seen the light of day. It has not seen one kobo because the account is not completely operational,
“That portrays that he has not collected a dime. The AGF has not released a dime to him because they don’t even have a place where the money can be paid.” Mokwa said.
He further noted that the council funding is expected to operate under the 2026 budget and has not yet reached the stage where it can receive government funding while adding that no workers were employed and plaid salaries under the agency.
The director, however, denied reports that salaries had been paid to workers of the agency.
According to him, the agency had not recruited any staff through the procedures required for federal establishments.
“Based on our knowledge, he has not employed anybody.” Mokwa explained that before any federal agency can recruit workers and place them on the government payroll, it must first obtain the necessary approvals from the Federal Character Commission (FCC), the Budget Office and the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC).
“If they give you a waiver for 200 people, you take the waiver to these agencies and then present the papers to the accountant general,
“He cannot capture even one name without those approvals because once they are captured, payment will come from the budget.” Mokwa added that none of those requirements had been completed.” Mokwa explained.
Acoording to the Cable newspaper, a review of the 2026 Appropriation Act also indicates that the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council is expressly listed under the presidency, with a total budget of N1,302,978,784.
The allocation includes N802,978,783 for personnel costs, N200,000,001 for overhead expenditure and N300,000,000 for capital projects.