#Gbajagate: Atiku Gives Tinubu Seven Days To Probe PFIPC Scandal
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has given President Bola Tinubu a seven-day ultimatum to order an independent investigation into the scandal rocking the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
Atiku warned that failure to investigate the matter transparently would deepen public suspicion that powerful government interests benefited from the alleged fraud.
He spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
Atiku said the controversy had gone beyond allegations of forgery and had become a crisis of institutional credibility.
He faulted the explanation offered by the Presidency through Bayo Onanuga, saying it raised more questions than answers.
“If the government wants Nigerians to believe that one man single-handedly created an office for himself, secured office space within a government facility, held meetings with foreign embassy delegations, paid courtesy visits to the EFCC, processed staff salaries through official channels, allegedly operated institutional accounts, and carried on all these activities without the knowledge, approval, negligence or collaboration of anyone within government, then that narrative raises even more troubling questions than it answers,” he said.
Atiku said while Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man at the centre of the scandal, should face the law if found guilty, the government must explain how the alleged operation passed through official channels undetected.
“Haba. Nigerians cannot be asked to swallow such a story whole,” he said.
He questioned whether Adeyemi’s alleged conduct alone could have secured budgetary allocations, office space in a government facility, and meetings with foreign delegations, lawmakers and public officials.
“At some point, we must separate an individual’s alleged conduct from the institutional systems that either enabled it or failed to detect it,” he added.
The former vice president said reports that the PFIPC was captured in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budget running into billions of naira had changed the nature of the scandal.
He also cited reports that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service allegedly approved the recruitment of over 300 personnel into the agency.
According to him, budget preparation and civil service recruitment are structured processes involving several institutions and could not have happened by accident.
Atiku Demands An Independent Probe
Quoting Chinua Achebe, Atiku said a man asked to carry a basket of eggs could not break them all and blame the road.
He said the Presidency could not continue to blame one man while refusing to account for the official systems that allegedly gave life to the scandal.
Atiku added that Adeyemi’s denial of the allegations and his claim that powerful figures were trying to silence him made an independent inquiry more urgent.
“Nigeria deserves the truth. Quietly investigating the matter and addressing the lapses would have been better than publicly presenting a story that collapses under its own contradictions. The President must order a comprehensive, independent investigation immediately. Anything short of that will amount to complicity by silence,” he said.
