PFIPC scandal: Name villa collaborators, Atiku tells Tinubu

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu to publicly identify government officials allegedly implicated in the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal. Atiku asserted that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission's (ICPC) interim report does not absolve the presidency, as it highlighted negligence and "connivance" within government processes.

"If there was connivance, who connived? If public officers were negligent, who are they? Who granted access to government offices? Who recognised this supposed Director-General? Who enabled him to operate within the machinery of government?" Atiku questioned in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu. The former vice president argued that acknowledging failures within government processes contradicts any claim that the State House system was entirely free from fault.

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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 recognised this supposed Director-General? Who enabled him to operate within the machinery of government?

The alleged scheme, orchestrated by the self-styled Director-General of the disputed agency, Adeniyi Adeyemi, reportedly involved forging presidential appointment letters, creating fictitious federal agencies, appropriating government offices and instruments, and opening bank accounts using forged legislative documents. Atiku stressed that such extensive operations could not have succeeded without internal assistance or systemic failures.

"A fake agency does not walk into government offices by itself. A forged appointment letter does not validate itself. Bank accounts do not open themselves," he stated. Atiku demanded that Tinubu name the individuals whose actions allegedly facilitated the fraud, emphasizing that the reported recommendation for sanctions against negligent public officers further necessitates transparency. He accused the presidency of attempting to use the interim nature of the ICPC report to shield officials potentially involved in enabling the alleged fraud.

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A fake agency does not walk into government offices by itself. A forged appointment letter does not validate itself. Bank accounts do not open themselves.