‘From phantom agency to N6.44bn world cup budget mystery’, Atiku fires fresh shot at Tinubu

Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm over what he described as a sinister plot by the Bola Tinubu administration to manipulate the narrative surrounding the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal, shield government officials from scrutiny and redirect blame toward the political opposition.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the recent arrest of the self-styled Director-General of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi, as a calculated move allegedly intended to extract statements that could be deployed to implicate opposition figures rather than uncover the full truth behind the scandal.

Atiku said the PFIPC controversy could not be reduced to the alleged actions of Adeyemi alone.

According to him, the weightier scandal is how an organisation that the Presidency now claims was fictitious or non-existent allegedly penetrated the highest levels of government, obtained diplomatic recognition and accreditation, recruited more than 300 personnel, secured office accommodation at the National Secretariat and reportedly received budgetary allocations, including an alleged ₦1.3 billion provision in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

He maintained that such extensive operations could not have occurred without either active official collaboration or a catastrophic breakdown of oversight across multiple government institutions.

“The scandal is not merely that one man allegedly impersonated public authority. The greater scandal is that the Tinubu administration allegedly opened the doors of the Nigerian state to him, allowed him to acquire the appearance and privileges of official legitimacy and permitted him to interact with institutions and diplomatic interests in the name of the Federal Government,” Atiku said.

He added that the PFIPC controversy must also be viewed against the wider background of what he described as mind-boggling profligacy and questionable appropriations embedded in the 2026 federal budget.

Atiku specifically drew attention to the allocation of ₦6.44 billion for a ‘Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers’, despite Nigeria having already been eliminated from the qualification process in November 2025—about one month before the 2026 budget was presented to and considered by the National Assembly.

“How does a serious government budget ₦6.44 billion for presidential support for World Cup qualifiers after the country had already been eliminated? What competition was the money intended to support? Who inserted the provision, who approved it and who was expected to benefit from an expenditure whose stated purpose had already ceased to exist?” Atiku queried.

He described the allocation as not merely an example of poor judgment but a damning indictment of the integrity of the budgeting process, saying it reinforced public suspicion that the national budget had become a warehouse for dubious expenditures, fiscal waste and allocations without any defensible public purpose.

Adeyemi has faced allegations of forgery, impersonation and obtaining money by false pretences. He has, in turn, publicly alleged that he paid about ₦400 million in bribes to secure the position and has mentioned senior figures in the administration, including the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. Atiku stressed that these remain allegations requiring an independent, transparent and impartial investigation.

He said the PFIPC scandal had become a major embarrassment to Nigeria’s international reputation and warned that it must not be swept under the carpet like several other unresolved controversies, including the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry scandal, questions surrounding refinery rehabilitation expenditures and various disputed budgetary allocations.

“The Tinubu administration has a peculiar proclivity for propaganda, and we are reliably informed that there are plans to twist the facts of the PFIPC scandal, absolve those within the government who ought to answer questions and manufacture a politically convenient story against the opposition,” Atiku stated.

He reiterated his earlier demand for an independent investigation, arguing that an administration whose senior officials have been mentioned in the controversy cannot credibly investigate itself behind closed doors.

“The probe ordered by President Tinubu and assigned to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is insufficient, self-serving and incapable of inspiring public confidence in the government’s claim of innocence.

“An impartial investigation into this scandal is now a direct test of President Tinubu’s integrity and commitment to accountability, particularly because the allegations reach into the heart of his administration.

“A compromised process in which the government interrogates suspects in secrecy, suppresses inconvenient facts and later emerges with a contrived narrative blaming the opposition would be a pathetic assault on truth and a further demolition of the credibility of the Tinubu administration.

“Finally, this is precisely why we demanded an independent investigation from the very beginning. If not a government consumed by confusion and emboldened by impunity, how does the executive order a sweeping fresh investigation into matters that are already before a court of competent jurisdiction? Such conduct is not only reckless; it raises legitimate concerns about an attempt to control the narrative and undermine the integrity of the judicial process.

“We therefore call on the National Assembly to immediately constitute an independent bipartisan panel to investigate every aspect of the PFIPC scandal. We also urge the Nigerian Bar Association, civil society organisations, the diplomatic community and every Nigerian of good conscience to reject any choreographed cover-up masquerading as an investigation.”

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