Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the Federal Government to allow an independent investigation into the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate also questioned the alleged ₦6.44bn allocation earmarked for Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, despite the country’s earlier elimination from the competition.
In a statement released on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the PFIPC issue as a major test of President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
He accused the government of attempting to manage public perception of the controversy rather than permitting an impartial inquiry.
Atiku argued that the matter goes beyond the alleged actions of Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as the Director-General of the PFIPC, saying the bigger concern was how an organisation the presidency now says does not exist allegedly gained access to government institutions.
He questioned how the group reportedly obtained office space at the federal secretariat, recruited hundreds of workers, received diplomatic recognition and allegedly benefited from public resources.
“The scandal is not merely that one man allegedly impersonated public authority. The greater scandal is that the Tinubu administration allegedly opened the doors of the Nigerian state to him, allowed him to acquire the appearance and privileges of official legitimacy and permitted him to interact with institutions and diplomatic interests in the name of the Federal Government,” Atiku said.
The former vice president also raised concerns over provisions in the 2026 Appropriation Act, particularly the reported ₦6.44bn allocation for a “Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.”
He questioned why such funds would be included in the budget when Nigeria had already lost its chance of qualifying for the tournament before the appropriation was presented to lawmakers.
“How does a serious government budget ₦6.44bn for presidential support for World Cup qualifiers after the country had already been eliminated? What competition was the money intended to support?
Who inserted the provision, who approved it and who was expected to benefit from an expenditure whose stated purpose had already ceased to exist?” he queried.
Atiku described the allocation as an indication of wider concerns about Nigeria’s budgeting system, alleging that public funds were being committed to questionable projects.
“It reinforces public suspicion that the national budget has become a warehouse for dubious expenditures, fiscal waste and allocations without any defensible public purpose,” he added.
The ADC leader also expressed concerns that the arrest of Adeyemi could shift attention away from the wider issues surrounding the PFIPC controversy.
Adeyemi is facing allegations of forgery, impersonation and obtaining money by false pretences.
He has also claimed that he paid about ₦400m in bribes to secure his appointment and mentioned top government officials, including the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Atiku noted that the claims made by Adeyemi had not been proven and should be investigated through an impartial process.
“The probe ordered by President Tinubu and assigned to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission is insufficient, self-serving and incapable of inspiring public confidence in the government’s claim of innocence,” he stressed.
He cautioned against any investigation process that could be influenced to produce a predetermined outcome.
“A compromised process in which the government interrogates suspects in secrecy, suppresses inconvenient facts and later emerges with a contrived narrative blaming the opposition would be a pathetic assault on truth and a further demolition of the credibility of the Tinubu administration,” he added.
Atiku called on the National Assembly to establish an independent bipartisan committee to investigate all aspects of the PFIPC matter.
He also urged the Nigerian Bar Association, civil society groups and the diplomatic community to push for a transparent inquiry.
“We therefore call on the National Assembly to immediately constitute an independent bipartisan panel to investigate every aspect of the PFIPC scandal,” he proposed.
He added: “Nigerians deserve to know who authorised the PFIPC, who facilitated its access to public institutions, who secured its office accommodation, who obtained diplomatic recognition for it, who inserted funds for it in the national budget and who benefited from its operations.
Nigerians deserve the truth—not another carefully scripted public relations exercise,” the statement further read.
The PFIPC controversy has attracted public attention following allegations that the organisation operated as a government body, despite the presidency’s position that it was never officially created.
The issue escalated after Adeyemi’s arrest on Tuesday over allegations bordering on forgery, impersonation and obtaining money under false pretences.
Before his arrest, Adeyemi alleged that he paid about ₦400m in bribes to secure the position and linked some senior government officials to the matter. The allegations remain unproven.
Following the development, President Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the controversy.
However, opposition figures, including Atiku, have maintained that only an investigation independent of the executive arm of government can restore public confidence in the process.