The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has dismissed claims linking the late former President Muhammadu Buhari to the creation of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), insisting that the former leader only established the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).
In a statement issued on Sunday by its Director-General, Tanimu Yakubu, the group described reports suggesting that the alleged fictitious government agency originated under the Buhari administration as “false, groundless and lacking any factual basis.”
The clarification follows controversy surrounding the PFIPC, which the Presidency recently declared a non-existent government agency despite its appearance in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
According to the BMO, the entity’s origin has been wrongly traced to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council inaugurated by Buhari on October 9, 2019.
The organisation explained that PEAC was constituted as an ad hoc advisory body made up of renowned economists and financial experts to provide independent economic advice to the President.
It noted that the council was chaired by Prof. Doyin Salami before he was later appointed Chief Economic Adviser to the President, while Prof. Mahmuda Sagagi served as Vice-Chairman.
Other members included Prof. Ode Ojowu, Dr. Shehu Yahaya, Dr. Iyabo Masha, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Mr. Bismarck Rewane and Dr. Mohammed Salisu, who served as Secretary.
According to the BMO, PEAC initially operated from offices on the second floor of the Federal Secretariat designated for the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, a position Buhari did not fill until much later in his administration.
The group stressed that PEAC never had a budget line throughout Buhari’s tenure, adding that its operations were funded through presidential approvals processed by the Minister of Finance.
“The members were not paid salaries, while office expenses were settled by the Permanent Secretary, State House, upon presidential approval,” the statement said.
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The organisation further explained that when the current administration assumed office in 2023, it neither dissolved the Buhari-appointed council nor reappointed its members.
According to BMO, the members considered their tenure to have ended with the expiration of the administration that appointed them, while the office branded as both the “Presidential Economic Advisory Council” and the “Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President” remained vacant until it was occupied years later.
The group maintained that PEAC’s existence should not be confused with the controversial PFIPC and insisted that Buhari’s administration had no role in creating the agency currently at the centre of public debate.
