Atiku to Tinubu: Identify officials behind PFIPC scandal

Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu to name the government officials implicated in the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal. Abubakar asserted that an interim report from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) does not exonerate the presidency.

He argued that the report, which allegedly identified negligence and "connivance" within government procedures, has instead prompted further questions. Abubakar wants to know how a supposed imposter gained access to official government facilities and instruments, and established accounts under fictitious government agencies. "If there was connivance, who connived? If public officers were negligent, who are they? Who granted access to government offices? Who recognized this supposed director-general? Who enabled him to operate within the machinery of government?" Abubakar questioned in a statement.

The findings, according to Abubakar, undermine any attempt to portray the scandal as the isolated act of a single fraudster. The alleged scheme involved forging a presidential appointment letter, creating a fake federal agency, appropriating offices and instruments of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, and opening bank accounts with forged legislative instruments. Two additional fictitious government agencies were also allegedly created.

President Tinubu ordered a 30-day ICPC investigation into the scandal on July 7, 2026, following public outcry. The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, appeared before the ICPC on July 20 to provide information and has since filed a N15 billion defamation suit against the alleged mastermind, Adeniyi Adeyemi. Adeyemi is already facing an eight-count criminal charge for conspiracy, forgery, and impersonation, filed by the police in November 2025. He was rearrested in July for breaching bail conditions and failing to appear for arraignment.

The House of Representatives has also launched its own probe into how the fictitious agency secured a N1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act. Abubakar further contended that such activities could not have occurred without internal failures or assistance.

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If there was connivance, who connived? If public officers were negligent, who are they? Who granted access to government offices? Who recognized this supposed director-general? Who enabled him to operate within the machinery of government