The Senate has clarified that it will not intervene in the raging controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), insisting the matter falls squarely within the executive domain.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Yemi Adaramodu, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while responding to journalists’ queries on the dispute. The controversy erupted after Adeyemi Mathew claimed to be the director-general of the PFIPC, a claim denied by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Senator Adaramodu disclosed that the upper chamber had yet to receive any petition from either party or concerned Nigerians that would warrant its intervention, adding that lawmakers would not interfere at this stage.
He acknowledged media reports that the alleged agency had a budget line in the 2026 Appropriation Act but stressed that the provision was neither created nor inserted by the National Assembly. He argued that the disagreement should be resolved within the executive arm, from which it originated.
“The allegations and counter-allegations over a fake agency and a fake director-general are all within the executive and should be sorted out by it,” Adaramodu said. “Specifically, it is between the Office of the Chief of Staff and the alleged director-general.”
He further noted that the Senate’s non-interference was reinforced by the fact that the matter had become subject to litigation. “If the alleged director‑general had been a presidential appointee screened and confirmed by the Senate, the controversy might have been perceived as linked to us,” he explained.
“However, if a petition is sent to the Senate by any of the feuding parties or any concerned Nigerian on the existence or otherwise of the agency or its director‑general, it will be legislatively examined,” Adaramodu added, leaving the door open for potential parliamentary scrutiny should formal communication be received.
