ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has given President Bola Tinubu seven days to order what he described as a transparent, comprehensive and independent investigation into the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, warning that failure to act could reinforce public suspicion that influential figures in government benefited from the alleged fraud.
Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the controversy had gone beyond allegations of forgery and had become a serious test of the credibility of public institutions.
He also suggested that many Nigerians seeking public appointments may have fallen victim to an alleged racket that operated with official protection.
The former vice president criticised the Presidency’s explanation through presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, arguing that it left more questions than answers.
According to him, it was difficult to accept claims that a single individual could allegedly create a government agency, secure office accommodation within a government facility, engage with foreign diplomatic missions, visit the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, process staff salaries through official channels and allegedly operate institutional accounts without the knowledge or involvement of government officials.
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“If the government wants Nigerians to believe that one man single-handedly created an office for himself, secured office space within a government facility, held meetings with foreign embassy delegations, paid courtesy visits to the EFCC, processed staff salaries through official channels, allegedly operated institutional accounts, and carried on all these activities without the knowledge, approval, negligence or collaboration of anyone within government, then that narrative raises even more troubling questions than it answers,” he said.
Atiku maintained that while Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who is at the centre of the controversy, should face the law if found guilty of fraud, the more critical issue was how government institutions allegedly allowed such activities to continue without detection.
“Haba. Nigerians cannot be asked to swallow such a story whole,” he stated.
He argued that Adeyemi’s personal background could not explain how the alleged agency reportedly navigated official government processes.
According to Atiku, the real questions were whether it was Adeyemi’s character that secured budgetary allocations for a supposedly non-existent agency, obtained office accommodation within government premises or enabled meetings with foreign diplomats, lawmakers and senior public officials.
“At some point, we must separate an individual’s alleged conduct from the institutional systems that either enabled it or failed to detect it,” he said.
The ADC presidential candidate further noted that public records reportedly showed the PFIPC listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act with budgetary allocations running into billions of naira.
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He also referred to reports alleging that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved the recruitment of more than 300 personnel for the agency, arguing that such administrative processes involve several government institutions and could not have occurred by accident.
Drawing from the words of renowned novelist Chinua Achebe, Atiku said government could not continue to blame one individual while avoiding questions about the institutional structures that allegedly enabled the controversy.
He also pointed to recent statements by Prince Adeyemi, who has denied wrongdoing and alleged that influential individuals were attempting to silence him, saying those claims further strengthened the need for an independent investigation.
According to Atiku, only a comprehensive inquiry not official press statements can establish the true facts surrounding the controversy.
“Nigeria deserves the truth. Quietly investigating the matter and addressing the lapses would have been better than publicly presenting a story that collapses under its own contradictions.
“The President must order a comprehensive, independent investigation immediately. Anything short of that will amount to complicity by silence,” he said.
The former vice president insisted that an independent investigation was necessary to restore public confidence in government institutions and determine whether the alleged activities surrounding the PFIPC were the actions of a lone individual or evidence of wider institutional failures.