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The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has called for the establishment of an independent panel to investigate the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku rejected President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the alleged fake council.
He argued that only an independent commission of inquiry could restore public confidence in the matter.
According to Atiku, the Presidency’s latest directive contradicts its earlier position that the matter had already been comprehensively investigated.
He questioned why the ICPC had been given 30 days to investigate the alleged fake council after the Presidency said the police had concluded their investigation, resulting in the suspect’s arrest, the recovery of evidence and the filing of criminal charges before the Nigerian High Court.
“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 read in part.
Tinubu on Wednesday directed the ICPC to investigate the PFIPC following reports that individuals were allegedly operating under the name of a presidential intervention body purportedly linked to the Presidency.
Atiku said the President’s directive undermined the government’s earlier claim that the incident involved only one individual impersonating government officials.
“That directive is, in itself, a repudiation of the earlier narrative that this was merely the handiwork of one alleged impostor,” he said.
“The issue before Nigerians is no longer whether one individual allegedly forged documents. The issue is how an organisation, the Presidency, insists never existed, allegedly acquired office accommodation, interacted with government institutions, sought diplomatic recognition, reportedly conducted recruitment exercises, operated multiple bank accounts and projected the authority of government over an extended period.
“Institutions do not accidentally confer legitimacy. Bureaucracies do not unknowingly sustain official-looking operations for months. Somewhere between the Presidency’s denials and the appearance of official legitimacy lies the truth Nigerians deserve to know.”
The former Vice President proposed establishing a special Independent Commission of Inquiry comprising representatives nominated by the Nigerian Government, the ADC, the National Democratic Coalition, the Peoples Democratic Party, civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association, retired judicial officers, and other eminent Nigerians.
According to him, the panel should review the existing police findings, summon relevant public officials, investigate every aspect of the alleged PFIPC affair and publish its report to Nigerians within one month.
He concluded that the controversy had gone beyond the alleged principal suspect and now raised broader questions about the integrity of public institutions.
