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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar have rejected President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the controversy surrounding the presidential foreign intervention promotion council (PFIPC).
ADC, in a statement by Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary, said assigning the investigation to an agency under the Executive arm would create the impression that the administration was investigating itself.
This is as former vice president, Atiku, demanded immediate establishment of a Special Independent Commission of Inquiry comprising ten 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 respected Nigerians of unquestionable integrity to probe the scandal.
in a statement by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku stated that the Commission should be empowered to: conduct a comprehensive investigation into every aspect of the PFIPC affair;
– review the findings and investigative records already compiled by the Police and other security agencies;
– summon any serving or former public official whose testimony may assist the inquiry; and there after publish a White Paper containing its findings and recommendations within one month..
According to him, the President’s directive to the ICPC “ has inadvertently exposed glaring contradictions in the Presidency’s own narrative and strengthened the case for an independent Commission of Inquiry.”
He explained that President Tinubu’s directive to the anti-graft agency amounts to an admission that the Police investigation the “Presidency repeatedly relied upon” was either incomplete or incapable of providing answers to the fundamental questions Nigerians have been asking on the PFIPC scandal.
“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. 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,”
Atiku noted.
While describing the 30-day timeline given to the ICPC as both excessive and difficult to defend, he noted that allowing a government agency to investigate allegations whose outcome may ultimately reflect on the same government falls short of the standard of independence Nigerians expect.
“That directive is, in itself, a repudiation of the earlier narrative that this was merely the handiwork of one alleged 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.
“This is not a fresh crime scene. It is not a newly discovered fraud. It is a matter the Presidency insists had already been thoroughly investigated. If that claim is true, the ICPC should not require another month to rediscover what the Police supposedly established months ago. Nigerians deserve answers within days, not another cycle of delay.
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“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.
“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.”
ADC said although it welcomed the president’s decision to order an investigation into the matter, it believed the presidency lacked the credibility to oversee a probe into a controversy in which it was allegedly implicated.
“This is why the president should seize this moment as an opportunity to restore some credibility to his government by allowing an independent inquiry made up of trusted citizens. A government that is drowning in scandals cannot be trusted to investigate itself,” he said.
The opposition party noted that directing the ICPC to handle the investigation undermined public confidence in the process.
According to the ADC, placing the probe in the hands of an executive agency conveys the impression that the government intends to keep the investigation in-house, making the president “a judge in his own case”.
The party also accused the presidency of appearing to prejudge the outcome of the investigation through its public statements on the controversy.
“Second, the ADC is equally concerned that, even as the president has ordered an investigation, the presidency’s statement remains stubbornly presumptuous, appearing to have concluded that the appointment letters and other official documents were ‘forged’, even before any investigation had started,” the statement said.
“Yet, one of the central questions that the investigation is expected to determine is whether the appointment letters and other documents that Mr. Adeyemi relied on were genuinely issued, as he has claimed, or whether they were forged, as the presidency has insisted.”
The party further called on the president to direct Femi Gbajabiamila, his chief of staff, to step aside if officials within the presidency would be part of the investigation.
“If this is so, the minimum expectation is for the president to direct his chief of staff to proceed on leave until the investigations are concluded,” the ADC added.
“As long as he remains an active official of government it creates the impression that the president is deliberately shielding a key party in this matter.
“It would also be difficult to convince anyone that the chief of staff would not use his powerful office to influence the investigations in his favour.”
The ADC also urged the Federal Government to make the outcome of the investigation public, saying Nigerians deserve full disclosure of the facts surrounding the PFIPC controversy.
