Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Tinubu to apologise to Nigerians and resign over the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The presidential flagbearer of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) said conflicting accounts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) have created a major credibility crisis for the administration.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the testimony presented by the CBN before the House of Representatives contradicted the earlier position of the OAGF on the PFIPC accounts, insisting that the president could no longer remain silent over the matter.
He argued that if Tinubu failed to immediately restore public confidence through an independent investigation and hold those responsible accountable, he had lost the moral authority to remain in office.
“President Tinubu owes Nigerians an unreserved apology for presiding over this unprecedented collapse of public accountability. If he cannot immediately restore public confidence through a genuinely independent investigation and ensure that everyone responsible is held to account, then he has forfeited the moral authority to continue in office. The honourable course is simple: apologise to Nigerians and resign,” Atiku said.
The former vice president said the public disagreement between two of the country’s key financial institutions showed that the government was trapped in what he described as “a web of deception” and urged the president to clarify which account he believed.
“When two of your most sensitive financial and monetary authorities publicly contradict each other on the same transaction, no serious leader needs a clairvoyant to know that his administration is trapped in a web of deception and a profound crisis of credibility. The President cannot continue to watch from the sidelines while his government tears itself apart with conflicting narratives,” he stated.
He further said Tinubu’s continued silence was increasing public suspicion, adding, “If he believes neither, why has he not acted? Every day he delays ordering a truly independent investigation, he deepens public suspicion that preserving his administration’s image has taken precedence over establishing the truth.”
Atiku also criticised the Attorney-General of the Federation for not speaking publicly on the controversy and called on the National Assembly to summon both the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Governor of the Central Bank to appear together before its investigative committee under oath to explain the conflicting accounts.
According to him, “The PFIPC scandal has ceased to be merely about disputed accounts. It has become a referendum on President Tinubu’s integrity and competence. If a single individual could allegedly orchestrate a scheme that has thrown two of Nigeria’s most critical financial and monetary authorities into public contradiction, Nigerians are entitled to ask how many other abuses may have escaped detection because of weak oversight and institutional failure.”
POLITICS NIGERIA earlier reported that the House of Representatives is investigating the establishment and operations of the PFIPC, an organisation alleged to have operated without legal backing. As part of the probe, lawmakers summoned the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Adviser (NSA) after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed that it had no official relationship with the council and had rejected several requests from its alleged Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, over concerns about the organisation’s legitimacy.
The ministry also told lawmakers that after seeking clarification, the Office of the National Security Adviser informed it that checks with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President showed that Adeyemi and the PFIPC were unknown to the Federal Government.
The House committee has also given Ministries, Departments and Agencies a 48-hour deadline to appear before it or face sanctions, insisting that the investigation is aimed at establishing how the council allegedly operated despite lacking legal recognition.
During previous hearings, the CBN informed lawmakers that bank accounts linked to the PFIPC were opened on the directive of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation but had zero balances and recorded no transactions, a position that has fuelled the current controversy.
Meanwhile, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has confirmed that President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, voluntarily honoured an invitation and was questioned as part of its investigation into the PFIPC scandal. The commission stressed that he was not arrested and said its investigation into the alleged fake agency remains ongoing following Tinubu’s directive for a full probe.
