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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected President Bola Tinubu’s decision to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal, insisting that the Federal Government cannot credibly investigate allegations in which it is directly implicated.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, argued that only an independent inquiry would command public confidence, rather than what he described as an internal government investigation.
“A government that is drowning in scandals cannot be trusted to investigate itself,” Abdullahi declared.
The ADC also argued that the Presidency had prejudged the matter by describing appointment letters and other documents linked to the controversy as forged before any investigation had begun.
“The investigation must be allowed to independently determine whether the documents were forged, improperly issued, fraudulently obtained, or lawfully issued under the authority of the Presidency. The credibility of the entire exercise depends on allowing investigators to follow the evidence wherever it leads, rather than predetermining the outcome through official pronouncements,” he said.
The opposition party urged President Tinubu to establish an independent judicial panel made up of respected Nigerians, maintaining that only such a body could conduct a transparent and credible investigation.
“A Presidency that is at the very heart of a historic scandal such as this does not have the credibility to authorise an investigation into a matter that has brought an entire country into disrepute,” Abdullahi stated.
The ADC further called for the full, unredacted report of the investigation to be made public, warning against selective disclosure of findings.
“The President must commit to releasing the full, unredacted report at the end of the investigation. Merely announcing the outcome, or punishing a few expendable officials or scapegoats, will not satisfy a nation crying out for justice,” he said.
The party also condemned the reported arrest of Mr Adeyemi Adeniyi’s father, describing it as an attempt to intimidate those connected to the controversy.
“This act of intimidation only strengthens the impression that the government is panicking and is desperate to hide the truth rather than uncover it,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC maintained that Nigerian law does not recognise vicarious criminal liability, insisting that only individuals directly suspected of committing offences should be arrested. It added that the PFIPC controversy had exposed either serious institutional failures or official culpability and warned that any attempt to manage the fallout instead of uncovering the truth would only deepen public distrust.
