Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Bola Tinubu administration of orchestrating a deliberate effort to twist the facts of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal in order to shield implicated government officials and pin blame on the political opposition.
Atiku Questions Budget Allocations and Office Space
In a statement released on Tuesday, July 15, and signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the arrest of the self-styled PFIPC Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, as a tactical manoeuvre designed not to uncover the truth but to produce statements that could be weaponised against opposition figures.
Atiku argued that focusing solely on Adeyemi's alleged impersonation obscures more consequential questions. He pressed for explanations on how an organisation the Presidency now claims was fictitious managed to secure office accommodation at the National Secretariat, recruit more than 300 staff, obtain diplomatic accreditation, and reportedly attract a ₦1.3 billion provision in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
"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.
He also highlighted what he called a suspicious ₦6.44 billion budget allocation for a 'Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers', pointing out that Nigeria had been eliminated from the qualification process in November 2025, roughly a month before the 2026 budget was laid before the National Assembly.
"How does a serious government budget ₦6.44 billion for presidential support for World Cup qualifiers after the country had already been eliminated? What competition was the money intended to support?" he asked.
Allegations of Bribery and Cover-Up
Atiku stressed that Adeyemi's public claim of paying approximately ₦400 million in bribes to secure his position, with references to senior officials including Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, remains an allegation that demands independent scrutiny, not an investigation run by the same administration whose officials have been named.
Atiku rejected the probe assigned by President Tinubu to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), describing it as insufficient and incapable of inspiring public confidence. He warned that any government-controlled process risked producing a "contrived narrative blaming the opposition" while suppressing inconvenient facts.
He called on the National Assembly to immediately constitute an independent bipartisan panel, and urged the Nigerian Bar Association, civil society groups and the diplomatic community to reject what he termed a choreographed cover-up.
"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," Atiku said.
Broader Context of Alleged Misgovernance
Previously, Legit.ng reported that Atiku had sharply criticised the Federal Government over its decision to raise fees in Federal Unity Colleges and reports that a uniform ₦50,000 examination fee for WAEC and NECO candidates will take effect from 2027. The former vice president called the move cruel and constitutionally irresponsible.
The PFIPC scandal continues to unfold as Atiku presses for transparency and accountability, demanding that the National Assembly step in to ensure a credible investigation free from executive interference.
