…Insists only independent panel can investigate scandal

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal validates his earlier demand for a probe but falls short of the independent investigation Nigerians deserve.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that the President’s directive exposed contradictions in the Presidency’s previous position that the matter had already been thoroughly investigated by the police.

According to Atiku, the Presidency had earlier maintained that following petitions submitted by the Chief of Staff in October 2025, the police investigated the matter, arrested the principal suspect, recovered documentary exhibits, traced bank accounts, obtained statements and filed charges before the Federal High Court.
He questioned why the ICPC had now been directed to spend 30 days investigating the same matter if the police investigation had indeed been comprehensive.

“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,” the statement said.
Atiku further argued that the President’s directive to investigate the “wider circumstances” surrounding the alleged PFIPC suggested the matter extended beyond the actions of a single individual.

He said the key questions Nigerians wanted answered were how an organisation the Presidency insisted never existed allegedly secured office accommodation, interacted with government institutions, sought diplomatic recognition, conducted recruitment exercises, operated bank accounts and projected official authority over an extended period.
The former vice president described the 30-day timeline given to the ICPC as excessive, arguing that if previous investigations had been completed as claimed, Nigerians should receive answers within days rather than after another month-long inquiry.

He also questioned the reported arrest last week of the father of the principal suspect, saying the development appeared inconsistent with the Presidency’s earlier claim that investigations had already been concluded.
According to Atiku, the central issue is not the timeline but the independence of the investigation.

He argued that because the allegations involve government institutions and official processes, the Federal Government cannot investigate itself and expect public confidence in the outcome.
“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. In every constitutional democracy, a party whose conduct is under scrutiny cannot simultaneously appoint itself investigator, judge and final authority over its own case,” he said.

Atiku also questioned the appointment of a senior Presidency official, whose name he said had been mentioned publicly in connection with the PFIPC controversy, to chair the implementation committee on state police.
While noting that mention in connection with an allegation does not establish culpability, he argued that such appointments could undermine public confidence in the government’s commitment to transparency.

He therefore called for the immediate establishment of an independent Commission of Inquiry comprising representatives of the Federal Government, the ADC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), civil society organisations, retired judicial officers and other eminent Nigerians.
According to him, the proposed panel should investigate all aspects of the PFIPC affair, review previous police findings, summon serving and former public officials where necessary, publish its findings in a White Paper and complete its assignment within one month.

Atiku further argued that public officials should be willing to subject themselves to the same standards of scrutiny they demand of others, adding that public confidence would ultimately depend on whether the government permits a genuinely independent investigation into the matter.
He maintained that anything short of an independent inquiry would only deepen public suspicion rather than restore confidence in public institutions.