Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has formally called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately establish an independent Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the growing controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), a body the Presidency now describes as "fictitious." The opposition party insists that the scandal has exposed a systemic failure across multiple arms of government, and that no single individual — including the alleged mastermind Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi or Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila — should bear the blame alone.
In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said the party had carefully studied the allegations surrounding the PFIPC as well as the Presidency’s official response delivered on July 1 by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. Rather than provide clarity, the ADC argued, the government’s statement only deepened public suspicion. “Rather than provide answers to the raging questions on this scandal, the statement has instead left more questions,” the party said, accusing the Presidency of focusing on exonerating Gbajabiamila while ignoring how a supposedly non-existent agency managed to function across the federal bureaucracy.
The ADC declared that the PFIPC affair is no longer about one individual but about the integrity of the Nigerian state itself. “This is no longer a matter involving one individual. It is a matter that goes to the heart of the security and integrity of the Nigerian state under the Tinubu government,” the party stated, adding that the scandal threatens to permanently damage public confidence in government institutions.
Based on what the ADC described as the Presidency’s own account and documentary evidence already in the public domain, the party has identified at least ten government institutions and officials that must be investigated to unravel the full scope of the scandal. These include the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, to determine how documents bearing Gbajabiamila’s authority were issued and to investigate the publicly reported claims of bribe-taking involving the Chief of Staff and Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi. The panel must also examine the role of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi himself, to establish the full extent of his involvement in the creation and operation of the PFIPC, verify the authenticity of the documents he publicly relied upon, investigate his claims of making payments to senior officials, and determine whether he acted alone or as part of a wider network.
The ADC also named the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to establish whether any approvals, recognitions, or official records concerning the PFIPC ever existed in that office. The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation must also be questioned to determine whether she actually approved a recruitment waiver for over 300 civil servants into an organisation the Presidency now says never existed. The Budget Office of the Federation must explain how the PFIPC reportedly appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budget allocation running into billions of naira. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must clarify the extent of the PFIPC’s engagements with foreign diplomats and whether established diplomatic protocols were subverted or bypassed altogether.
The ADC further demanded that the Office of the National Security Adviser explain how what the Presidency now calls a fraudulent scheme was allowed to operate without detection, and why his office failed to flag it or take action. The Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force must also account for why neither agency detected or acted on the alleged fraud. The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria must explain how financial channels were allegedly opened for the PFIPC. Finally, the relevant committees of the National Assembly must be investigated to determine whether they fulfilled their oversight responsibilities or whether they were complicit in the fraud.
The ADC argued that if the PFIPC was indeed a fictitious organisation as claimed by the Federal Government, Nigerians are entitled to know how such an entity allegedly secured recruitment approvals, obtained budgetary allocations, engaged in official correspondence, interacted with federal institutions, and gained recognition across multiple arms of government. Conversely, if the PFIPC was not fictitious, the party insisted that Nigerians deserve to know why the government has publicly disowned a legitimate agency in an apparent effort to protect one of its senior officials.
“These are serious questions that cannot be answered by press statements, selective denials, or criminal prosecutions alone,” the ADC stated. “Only a truly independent judicial inquiry can establish the facts, identify those responsible, and restore public confidence in the integrity of our institutions.”
The demand for a judicial inquiry comes just days after the ADC’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, issued President Tinubu a seven-day ultimatum to order an independent investigation into the PFIPC scandal, warning that failure to act would amount to complicity by silence. The ADC has made it clear that it will not allow the matter to be swept under the rug, and that the party will continue to press for full accountability until every institution and individual implicated in the scandal is brought to justice.
📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com
✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters News | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews
Add comment
Comments