The African Democratic Congress (ADC), its presidential candidate in the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, and the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) have faulted the decision of President Bola Tinubu to hand over the investigation of the ghost agency, the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The party, Atiku and MBF, in separate statements made available to the Nigerian Tribune, said that the ICPC is not the right body to handle such investigation.

While Atiku demanded the setting up of a commission of inquiry, the ADC said only an independent judicial panel could unravel the issues involved in the scam.

The MBC on its own also called for an independent commission to investigate the scandal, adding that given the issues involved, Nigerians will be more comfortable with an independent commission rather than the anti-graft body.

The ADC has also insisted that only an independent judicial panel can provide credible answers to the many questions the PFIPC scandal has raised.

Reacting to the development on Wednesday through its national publicity secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party acknowledged President Tinubu’s directive to the ICPC to investigate the scandal.

The ADC said it had earlier called for an independent probe and identified the institutions that should be investigated. It noted that the president has now accepted that the matter requires investigation and cannot be dismissed.

“By handing the investigation to the ICPC, an agency of government under the Executive, it conveys the impression that the president intends to keep the investigation in-house and possibly be a judge in his own case.

“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,” it said.

The ADC also expressed concern over the Presidency’s statement for suggesting that appointment letters and other documents were “forged” before investigation.

“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.

“Therefore, by anchoring the investigation on its own position, the government would have effectively biased the entire process,” the party said.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has also said that President Tinubu’s directive to the ICPC to investigate the scandal is a reluctant but significant response to the seven-day ultimatum he issued demanding a thorough and transparent investigation.

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in a statement on Wednesday issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the directive had exposed glaring contradictions in the Presidency’s own narrative and strengthened the case for an independent Commission of Inquiry.

He demanded the immediate establishment of a Special Independent Commission of Inquiry comprising 10 eminent Nigerians nominated by the Federal Government, the ADC, the National Democratic Coalition (NDC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association, retired judicial officers and other respected Nigerians of unquestionable integrity.

He said 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 enquiry, prepare and publish a White Paper containing its findings and recommendations, and conclude its assignment within one month, publishing its report directly to the Nigerian people without requiring approval or clearance from any organ of government.

“That is the minimum standard of transparency Nigerians should accept,” Atiku said.

On the ICPC probe, Atiku said the president’s latest directive amounted to an admission that the police investigation the presidency repeatedly relied upon was either incomplete or incapable of answering the fundamental questions Nigerians have continued to ask.

MBF says ICPC shouldn’t handle PFIPC investigations

The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has disagreed with President Bola Tinubu’s directive that the ICPC should handle the controversies and perceived complicity of top government officials in the scandal involving the activities of the PFIPC.

Speaking on the development, the MBF national chairman, Dr. Pogu, stated that given the intricacy of the situation and the controversies surrounding the matter, particularly the purported involvement of key government officials, Nigerians would be more comfortable with an independent commission rather than an anti-graft body.

“Given the confusion trailing the saga for now, because the Chief of Staff is denying completely that he has no connection with the man in question, the Central Bank of Nigeria saying the same thing and other government agencies alleged to be involved are exonerating themselves, it will be inappropriate for any government entity to handle the situation.

“Therefore, an independent judicial panel will undoubtedly be the best option in this situation to resolve the complexities in the saga,” Pogu said.

Senate awaits ICPC’s probe report

The Senate has opted to await the report of the ICPC on the unfolding controversy involving the Presidency and the DG of the PEAC/PFIPC, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi.

It took the stance on Wednesday, barely 24 hours after President Tinubu directed the anti-graft agency to investigate the matter and produce a report within 30 days.

The Senate opted to wait for the outcome of the investigation after Kano-South lawmaker, Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu, raised a motion on privilege, urging senators to investigate it.

Kawu’s argument was that the mention of the 2026 budget in the controversy as passed by the National Assembly could rub on its integrity.

For instance, he said despite public statements by senior presidency officials describing the PFIPC as fake, fictitious and unauthorised, the entity was captured in the 2026 Appropriation Act under Budget Code 011106200, with an allocation of N1,302,978,784.

Kawu added that the appropriation comprised N802.98 million for personnel costs, 200 million for overhead and 300 million naira for capital expenditure, raising fundamental questions about the integrity of Nigeria’s budget preparation and appropriation process.

The senator was of the view that the Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, as well as Appropriations, should investigate the issue in detail and submit a report.

But, the Senate opted to wait for the ICPC’s report, since President Tinubu had already directed the agency to conduct the investigation.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, also observed that Kawu ought to have approached the matter through a substantive motion.

He said, “The Presidency has taken up this matter by directing that the ICPC should investigate fully how this matter came to be. The marching order has been given and I think the ICPC has started.

“To me, I believe that what we need to do at this stage is to have the report of the ICPC, and then we can act on that report and deal with it as we feel appropriate.”

Reps launch probe into alleged funding of ‘fake’ agency

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives during the Wednesday plenary resolved to investigate how budgetary allocations allegedly linked to the infamous PEAC/PFIPC found its way into the 2026 Appropriation Act, despite Federal Government position that the Council was never legally established.

The resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion of urgent importance on the ‘Urgent need to safeguard the integrity of the federal budget process following the reported inclusion of the unestablished Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the federal budget framework’, sponsored by chairman, House Committee on Navy, Hon. Yusuf Gadgi.

The controversial council’s budget proposal was on Page 50 and 51 of the 2026 budget estimates laid by President Bola Tinubu with the code 0111062001 with total expenditure of N1,302,978,784, comprising of N1,002,978,784 total recurrent cost (N802,978,783 personnel cost and N200,000,001 total overhead) and N300,000,000 for capital expenditure for the year 2026.

Same amount was approved by the National Assembly on Pages 33 to 35 of the Appropriation Act, signed by Mr. President, with the code 0111001001 under the State House headquarters.

The House Committee on Special Duties is statutorily saddled with the function of oversight of the State House activities according to the Standing Rules of the 10th House of Representatives.

Leading the debate on the motion, Hon. Gagdi argued that the motion does not prejudge nor seek to pre-empt ongoing investigations of criminal proceedings pending before the Federal High Court, Abuja on the controversial Council which Federal Government has since declared that no such agency was ever lawfully established.

He said: “The House is aware that the entity relied on a document purporting to be an enactment codified as ‘Chapter N2117, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria’, whereas the records of the National Assembly disclose no Bill for the establishment of any such Council, and the Laws of the Federation contain no Chapter N2117, the nearest designation, Chapter N117, being the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, the very statute whose mandate the entity purported to duplicate, such that the falsity of the purported instrument is apparent 01 the face of public statutory records.

“The House observes that reports indicate that a budgetary provision in excess of N1.3 billion attributable to the entity found its way into the 2026 Appropriation framework, raising the fundamental question, which falls squarely within the constitutional remit of the House, of how a body without any authentic instrument of establishment could enter the federal budget, whether through the executive osal or in the course of legislative consideration, and at what point the prop; existing scrutiny safeguards failed to detect it.

I wanted to write my name in gold — Adeyemi

The embattled director-general of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, has explained that he established the controversial agency out of a desire to attract foreign investors to Nigeria and support the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Matthew said the council was not created for personal benefit but to help project Nigeria as a preferred destination for global investment.

On the petition reportedly filed against him by the Chief of Staff to the President, Matthew said he never met with Gbajabiamila physically over the matter, although he admitted speaking with him or someone who may be him on the telephone through his late friend, Dolapo Tanimola.

He made the disclosure during a video conversation with social media critic, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, on Wednesday.

“I established that amount (rumoured N400 million) for the agency’s office out of passion for the country. I wanted to bring in foreign investors to Nigeria so that I can write my name in gold. I am just desperate to serve,” he said.

Matthew added that the council was designed to work with relevant government institutions to promote investment opportunities in Nigeria.

Adeyemi also expressed confusion over the controversy surrounding the council’s inclusion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, insisting that he had no knowledge of how the agency’s budget allocation got into the national budget.

He questioned the position of the Presidency that the council does not exist, despite its appearance in the budget document passed by the National Assembly.

“This whole thing is confusing, especially when the Presidency said that the agency does not exist. How come? The agency that found its way into the national budget. I didn’t prepare any budget,” Matthew said.

He claimed that he was in detention for 23 days during the period the budget was prepared and defended before the National Assembly.

Matthew said he was invited by the former Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to explain how he obtained the appointment letter allegedly linked to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

He said after providing details of the person who facilitated the appointment letter, he was detained by the police.

He further alleged that upon his release, he was informed that the office space previously allocated to the council had been reassigned to another government official.

“By the time I came out on November 19, 2025, I was charged to court and they said the same office space had been reallocated to another government official. So I’ve not been going to the office since that October 27,” he said.

He maintained that he possesses documents to support the establishment of the council and is willing to submit them to security agencies investigating the matter. (Nigerian Tribune)