Lapses In Tinubu Administration Allowed PFIPC Scandal – Atiku

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has raised concerns over what he described as institutional loopholes and administrative lapses in the Bola Tinubu administration following the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

Atiku said the PFIPC scandal exposed what he described as “profound administrative incompetence” in the Tinubu administration, which allegedly allowed a phantom entity to operate within the federal government.

Naija News reports that the former Vice President, in a statement on Monday by his media office, said he was still trying to understand how Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew allegedly deceived institutions and agencies responsible for scrutinising and raising concerns over the creation and operation of the PFIPC.

He said the controversy had raised serious questions about the internal controls and governance mechanisms of the Tinubu administration.

Atiku particularly questioned how a fictitious council could receive a ₦1.3bn allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act, saying the development pointed to weaknesses in the oversight functions of the Budget Office, the National Assembly and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“How did Prince Adeyemi fool the Presidency, CBN, the Office of the SGF, National Assembly and the EFCC?

“How did this so-called agency that was not a legal creation come to have a budgetary provision, office, staff and even security details?

“How come the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives met with the so-called Director General of the agency without due diligence?” he asked.

The ADC presidential candidate argued that Prince Adeyemi could not have allegedly perpetrated the fraud on such a large scale without the involvement of some government officials.

Atiku also alleged that a culture of forgery had become widespread under the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration, describing it as a factor that could have enabled the alleged fraud and left security and regulatory agencies unaware of the activities of the purported council.

He called for the identification and prosecution of all individuals who may have provided institutional support that helped legitimise the alleged illegal agency.

Atiku said such action was necessary to prevent a recurrence of what he described as a “disgraceful episode.”