Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has called on President Bola Tinubu to order a transparent, comprehensive and independent investigation into the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal within seven days.

Atiku warned that failure to do so would deepen public suspicion that influential figures within government may have benefited from the alleged fraud and that Nigerians seeking public sector appointments may have been defrauded through a scheme that enjoyed official protection.
In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the controversy had gone beyond allegations of forgery to become a major test of the credibility of government institutions.

According to him, the key issue is no longer whether an individual forged documents or impersonated government officials, but how official government processes allegedly recognised, processed and advanced the affairs of an agency the Presidency insists never existed.
He argued that the explanation offered by the Presidency through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, raised more questions than it answered.

“If the government wants Nigerians to believe that one man single-handedly created an office for himself, secured office space within a government facility, held meetings with foreign embassy delegations, paid courtesy visits to the EFCC, processed staff salaries through official channels, allegedly operated institutional accounts, and carried on all these activities without the knowledge, approval, negligence or collaboration of anyone within government, then that narrative raises even more troubling questions than it answers,” Atiku said.
He added that if Adeniyi Adeyemi committed any offence, he should face the law, but insisted that government institutions must also account for how such activities allegedly passed through official administrative, financial and security processes without detection.

“What kind of government system allows such an elaborate operation to pass through budgetary, administrative, security and institutional channels without detection? Nigerians cannot be asked to swallow such a story whole,” he stated.
Atiku argued that while Adeyemi’s personal background may be relevant to the allegations against him, it could not explain how the agency allegedly secured office space, interacted with public institutions and foreign missions, or appeared to benefit from official government processes.

He questioned whether an individual’s alleged conduct alone could explain reports that the agency received budgetary allocations, occupied government offices and operated official financial channels.
The former vice president also referred to reports that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a multi-billion-naira allocation and that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation allegedly approved the recruitment of more than 300 personnel into the agency.

According to him, such developments could not be dismissed as administrative errors because budget preparation and federal recruitment involve multiple layers of institutional approvals.
“Budget preparation is a structured process involving ministries, departments and agencies, the Budget Office, the National Assembly and ultimately presidential assent. Recruitment into the Federal Civil Service also follows established procedures. These things do not happen by accident,” he said.

Atiku further argued that the recent public response by Adeyemi, in which he denied the allegations and claimed that powerful individuals were attempting to silence him, had made an independent inquiry even more necessary.
“Whether his claims are true or false is not for the Presidency to determine through press statements. That is precisely why Nigeria needs an independent investigation. Let the facts speak. Let every document be examined. Let every approval be traced. Let every official who acted, neglected a duty or enabled this scandal be identified and held accountable,” he said.

He maintained that the controversy now affects the integrity of Nigeria’s budgeting process, the credibility of the Federal Civil Service, the effectiveness of institutional oversight and the Presidency’s ability to account for activities carried out in its name.
Atiku concluded by urging President Tinubu to immediately constitute an independent panel to investigate the allegations, warning that anything short of such action would reinforce public concerns over the handling of the matter.