PFIPC scandal: Name villa collaborators, Atiku tells Tinubu

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to identify government officials allegedly involved in the circumstances surrounding the fraudulent Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.

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Atiku insisted that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission interim report does not amount to an exoneration of the presidency.

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He said the report, which reportedly identified negligence and ‘connivance’ within government processes, had instead raised fresh questions about how an alleged impostor was able to operate within official circles, gain access to government facilities and instruments, and establish accounts in the name of fictitious government agencies.

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In a statement issued on his behalf by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu on Friday, Atiku said the government could not simultaneously acknowledge failures within its processes and claim that the State House system was completely above board.

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“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?” Atiku asked.

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The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate said the reported findings had effectively undermined any attempt to present the scandal as the isolated work of a lone fraudster.

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The alleged scheme by the self-styled Director Agency of the disputed agency, Adeniyi Adeyemi, involved the forging of a presidential appointment letter, the creation of a fictitious federal agency, the appropriation of offices and instruments previously associated with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, the opening of bank accounts using forged legislative instruments and the alleged creation of two additional fictitious government agencies.

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Atiku argued that such activities could not have been accomplished without failures or assistance from individuals within the government system.

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“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,” he said.

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“Behind every door that opened, every process that was bypassed and every official instrument that was accessed was a human being. Name them,” he challeged Tinubu.

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He noted that the reported recommendation for sanctions against public officers whose negligence allegedly facilitated the operation further demonstrated the need for the identities and roles of those officials to be made public.

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He accused the presidency of attempting to use the interim nature of the ICPC report to shield officials whose actions may have enabled the alleged fraud.

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“What the ICPC Interim Report has done, in the main, is to shield the identities of shadow operatives within the presidency who allegedly connived to enable the fraud.

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“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 added.

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He maintained that an interim investigative report could not be treated as a final declaration that the presidency had been cleared, particularly while investigations into possible collaborators and related bank accounts were reportedly continuing.

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He renewed his call for an independent panel of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the affair.

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Atiku also called on the National Assembly to institute a public hearing into the controversy and broadcast the proceedings live.

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His demand followed an invitation reportedly made by Adeyemi, to appear before a National Assembly investigation.

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Atiku said the invitation presented an opportunity for the government to demonstrate its commitment to transparency by allowing witnesses to testify publicly and under oath.

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“The presidency now has nowhere left to hide. If Mr Adeyemi is prepared to appear publicly, testify under oath, and answer questions before Nigerians, then let him be heard.

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“The National Assembly should immediately institute an open, live-broadcast public hearing into this scandal,” he added.

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He urged the presidency not to obstruct or shield anyone connected with the matter.

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“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?”

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Atiku said anything short of an open hearing would deepen public suspicion that influential individuals were being protected.

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“You cannot admit negligence and connivance within government and simultaneously pronounce the system spotless. That is like washing charcoal and expecting white water,” he said.

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