Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed President Bola Tinubu's decision to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal. According to him, the move falls far short of genuine transparency and only deepens contradictions within the Presidency's own account of events.
In a statement released on Wednesday, July 8, by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the directive, issued seven days after he publicly issued an ultimatum demanding a thorough probe, amounted to an acknowledgement that the earlier Police investigation was either incomplete or inadequate.
Atiku slams Tinubu over alleged manipulation in 2026 budget
"If the Police investigation was comprehensive, another investigation is unnecessary. If another investigation has become necessary, then the inevitable conclusion is that the earlier investigation was insufficient. The President cannot simultaneously maintain both positions without contradicting his own government," Atiku said.
ICPC probe draws scrutiny
Atiku noted that the Presidency had previously told Nigerians the matter was already in court, with arrests made, bank accounts traced, documents recovered and criminal charges filed before the Federal High Court. He questioned what the ICPC could accomplish in a fresh 30-day window that the Police had not already covered.
He also pointed to a further inconsistency: that the father of the principal suspect in the case was reportedly arrested only last week, despite official claims that the investigation had long been concluded.
Beyond the timeline, Atiku argued that the fundamental problem was structural. "The Federal Government is itself central to this controversy because the questions being asked concern the conduct of public institutions, official processes and possible institutional failures," he said, adding that no party under scrutiny should simultaneously serve as its own investigator and judge.
Concerns about impartiality
He also raised concerns about the appointment of a senior Presidency official, whose name had been publicly linked to the PFIPC controversy, to chair an implementation committee on state police. The move, he said, undermined public confidence in the appearance of impartiality.
Atiku calls for 'Independent Commission'
Atiku called for the immediate establishment of a Special Independent Commission of Inquiry made up of ten eminent Nigerians, drawn from the African Democratic Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, the National Democratic Coalition, civil society, the Nigerian Bar Association, and retired judicial officers.
He said the Commission should have the authority to summon any serving or former public official, review all existing investigative records, and publish a White Paper directly to Nigerians without requiring clearance from any arm of government, completing its work within one month.
"Anything less will leave the unavoidable impression that the government prefers to investigate itself behind closed doors rather than submit to genuinely independent scrutiny," he said.
Atiku, who observed an irony in the President's posture, said that Tinubu has shown urgency in directing probes into matters touching on official records involving others, while longstanding public questions about aspects of his own personal records remain unaddressed.
Senate to address alleged fake agency row
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Senate planned to address the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council after questions emerged over a N1.3 billion budget allocation to the agency. The controversy followed claims that a forged appointment letter bearing the Chief of Staff's name enabled the council to secure office space despite the Presidency maintaining that the agency was never legally established.
