PFIPC: You can’t be judge and jury, Atiku flays Tinubu over fresh ICPC probe
By Omeiza Ajayi
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has flayed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to investigate the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, insisting that a government cannot simultaneously be judge and jury in a matter in which it is itself under suspicion.
“What Nigerians demanded was never another internal government investigation. We demanded an independent investigation. The Federal Government is itself central to this controversy because the questions being asked concern the conduct of public institutions, official processes and possible institutional failures. In every constitutional democracy, a party whose conduct is under scrutiny cannot simultaneously appoint itself investigator, judge and final authority over its own case,” he stated.
Atiku described the move as a reluctant response to the seven-day ultimatum he had issued, but insisted the move had only exposed contradictions in the Presidency’s own account of the scandal.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the directive amounts to an admission that the police investigation the Presidency had relied on was either incomplete or incapable of answering the questions Nigerians have continued to ask.
The former number two citizen demanded the immediate establishment of a Special Independent Commission of Inquiry made up of 10 eminent Nigerians nominated by the Federal Government, the African Democratic Congress ADC, the National Democratic Coalition NDC, the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association NBA, retired judicial officers and other Nigerians of unquestionable integrity.
He said the commission should conduct a comprehensive investigation into every aspect of the PFIPC affair, review findings already compiled by the police and other security agencies, summon any serving or former public official whose testimony may assist the inquiry, prepare and publish a White Paper containing its findings, and conclude its work within one month, publishing its report directly to Nigerians without requiring clearance from any organ of government.
“That is the minimum standard of transparency Nigerians should accept. Anything less will leave the unavoidable impression that the government prefers to investigate itself behind closed doors rather than submit to genuinely independent scrutiny.
“Only one week ago, the Presidency emphatically told Nigerians that the matter had already been investigated by the Police following petitions from the Chief of Staff in October 2025; that the suspect had been arrested; that searches had been conducted; that documentary exhibits had been recovered; that bank accounts had been traced; that statements had been obtained; and that criminal charges had already been filed before the Federal High Court,” the statement read.
“If all of that is true, what exactly is the ICPC expected to spend another thirty days investigating? If the Police investigation was comprehensive, another investigation is unnecessary. If another investigation has become necessary, then the inevitable conclusion is that the earlier investigation was insufficient. The President cannot simultaneously maintain both positions without contradicting his own government,” he said.
The former Vice President said the contradiction becomes even more striking given that the President has directed the ICPC to probe “the wider circumstances” surrounding the alleged PFIPC, a move he described as a repudiation of the earlier narrative that the affair was the handiwork of a lone impostor.
“The issue before Nigerians is no longer whether one individual allegedly forged documents. The issue is how an organisation the Presidency insists never existed allegedly acquired office accommodation, interacted with government institutions, sought diplomatic recognition, reportedly conducted recruitment exercises, operated multiple bank accounts and projected the authority of government over an extended period.
“Institutions do not accidentally confer legitimacy. Bureaucracies do not unknowingly sustain official-looking operations for months. Somewhere between the Presidency’s denials and the appearance of official legitimacy lies the truth Nigerians deserve to know,” he said.
He also described the 30-day timeline handed to the ICPC as excessive, arguing that since the Presidency maintains the matter had already been thoroughly investigated, the commission should not need another month “to rediscover what the Police supposedly established months ago.”
He pointed to a further inconsistency in the official chronology, noting that the father of the principal suspect was arrested only last week despite the Presidency’s insistence that the investigation had effectively been concluded months earlier.
Atiku said the deeper problem lies in the structure of the investigation rather than its timeline.
He said the President’s commitment to transparency is called into question by the appointment of a senior Presidency official, whose name has been publicly mentioned in connection with the PFIPC controversy, as Chairman of the implementation committee on state police.
While mere mention or association does not establish culpability, Atiku said the appointment raises questions about public confidence, adding that officials facing legitimate public scrutiny should, where appropriate, be given the chance to clear their names through a transparent process before being handed responsibilities of national significance. “Accountability must not only be done but must also be seen to be done,” he said.
Atiku further noted what he called a profound irony in the President’s readiness to order investigations into others’ conduct while longstanding public questions concerning his own name, age and academic history remain unaddressed.
“If allegations affecting public confidence deserve urgent investigation and transparent clarification in one instance, then the same principle should apply universally. Leadership earns moral authority when it willingly embraces the standards it demands of others,” he said.
According to him, Nigerians would judge the episode not by the issuance of another presidential directive, but by whether government is prepared to submit itself to a genuinely independent inquiry.
He said, “The issue before the nation is no longer Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew. The issue is whether public institutions were compromised, whether official processes were abused, and whether the government has the courage to permit an independent inquiry that follows the evidence wherever it leads. That is the only path to public confidence. Anything short of that will inevitably deepen public suspicion rather than restore public trust.”
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