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

Atiku warned that any failure to initiate a credible probe could fuel public suspicion that powerful individuals within government may have benefited from the alleged scheme, while unsuspecting Nigerians seeking public appointments may have been exploited under what he described as a potentially protected operation.

In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said the PFIPC controversy had evolved beyond allegations of forgery and impersonation, becoming a major test of the credibility and accountability of Nigeria’s public institutions.

According to Atiku, the central issue is no longer whether certain documents were forged or whether government officials were impersonated. Rather, he said the pressing question is how an agency the Presidency now claims never existed allegedly managed to operate within official government structures without raising red flags.

He argued that the explanation provided by the Presidency through the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, failed to address critical concerns and instead opened the door to even more questions.

“If Nigerians are expected to believe that one individual created an agency, secured office space within government premises, held meetings with foreign diplomatic missions, engaged with anti-corruption agencies, processed salaries through official channels and allegedly operated institutional accounts without the knowledge, negligence or cooperation of any government official, then the explanation itself becomes deeply troubling,” Atiku stated.

While stressing that Adeniyi Adeyemi should face the full weight of the law if found guilty of any wrongdoing, Atiku maintained that government agencies must also explain how such an elaborate operation allegedly passed through administrative, financial and security systems without detection.

He questioned the effectiveness of institutional safeguards, asking how a supposedly non-existent agency could reportedly function openly and interact with public institutions and foreign missions.

“What kind of government system allows an operation of this magnitude to move through budgetary, administrative and security channels without detection? Nigerians deserve more than a simplistic explanation,” he said.

The former vice president further challenged the Presidency’s response to reports surrounding the PFIPC, arguing that an individual’s alleged misconduct alone could not account for claims that the agency occupied government offices, accessed official processes and reportedly benefited from state resources.

Atiku also pointed to reports suggesting that the 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 organisation.

According to him, such claims cannot be brushed aside as mere administrative oversights because both budgeting and federal recruitment processes involve several layers of scrutiny and approval.

“Budget preparation follows a rigorous process involving ministries, departments and agencies, the Budget Office, the National Assembly and, ultimately, presidential assent. Recruitment into the Federal Civil Service is equally governed by established procedures. These are not processes that occur by accident,” he said.

Atiku warned that the controversy now raises serious concerns about the integrity of Nigeria’s budgeting system, the credibility of the civil service, the effectiveness of institutional oversight mechanisms and the Presidency’s capacity to account for activities carried out in its name.

He called on President Tinubu to immediately establish an independent investigative panel to unravel the facts surrounding the scandal, insisting that anything short of a full and transparent inquiry would only deepen public distrust and reinforce concerns about possible official complicity.