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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the Nigerian government to identify insiders within the Presidency who allegedly facilitated fraud by the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)’s report on the disputed PFIPC raises more questions than it answers.
According to the ICPC, the self-acclaimed chairman of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, forged a presidential appointment letter, created a fictitious federal agency, appropriated the offices and instruments of the former Presidential Economic Advisory Council, opened bank accounts using forged legislative instruments, engaged in widespread impersonation and created two additional fictitious government agencies.
The commission also recommended his prosecution.
Atiku questioned how the alleged fraud could have occurred without the involvement or negligence of public officials.
“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?”
“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. Behind every door that opened, every process that was bypassed and every official instrument that was accessed was a human being. Name them.”
Atiku alleged that the ICPC report shields the identities of suspected insiders within the Presidency who may have enabled the alleged fraud.
“Their identities should be made public, and their roles fully explained. Nigerians deserve to know who did what, who authorised what, and who opened the doors that made this possible,” he demanded.
He said an interim report could not be treated as a presidential certificate of innocence while investigations into possible collaborators and associated bank accounts remain ongoing.
Atiku said the ultimate test of the government’s sincerity was transparency, particularly as the central figure in the controversy, Adeyemi, had publicly challenged the government to allow him to appear before a National Assembly investigation broadcast live on national television.
“The Presidency now has nowhere left to hide. If Adeyemi is prepared to appear publicly, testify under oath, and answer questions before Nigerians, then let him be heard. The National Assembly should immediately institute an open, live-broadcast public hearing into this scandal.
“The Presidency must not attempt to block, gag, or shield anyone connected to this matter. If the Villa is truly clean, it should be the first to welcome live television coverage. Let Nigerians watch, unedited, as the witnesses testify, and the evidence is presented under oath. What is the Presidency afraid of?”
Atiku said anything short of a transparent public hearing would deepen suspicions that powerful interests were being protected.
“You cannot admit negligence and connivance within government and simultaneously pronounce the system spotless. That is like washing charcoal and expecting white water.”
Atiku also demanded the publication of the full ICPC report and the identities of every public official found culpable.
He insisted that only an independent and transparent inquiry could dispel concerns that politically exposed persons or officials within the Presidency who allegedly enabled the fraud were being protected.
“Transparency cannot stop where the trail enters the corridors of power. The Presidency cannot investigate itself into innocence,” Atiku said.
“Open the investigation. Put the witnesses under oath. Switch on the cameras. Let Nigerians hear the truth for themselves.”
— Phrank Shaibu (@phrankangel) August 7, 2026
