Atiku demands joint summon of OAGF, CBN Gov over conflicting PFIPC accounts

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA:Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on the National Assembly to immediately summon the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN to appear together before its investigative committee under oath, so that Nigerians can finally hear one truthful account of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council PFIPC accounts scandal.

In a statement issued Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC said the demand became necessary following conflicting testimonies by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation OAGF and the CBN before the House of Representatives, which he said had exposed a government trapped by its own contradictions.

Atiku said the contradictory accounts pointed to the beginning of a cover-up, noting that both institutions could not simultaneously be telling the truth.

“This is where the cover-up appears to begin. One institution denied authorising the opening of the PFIPC accounts and alleged forgery. Another, before the representatives of the Nigerian people, stated that the accounts were opened on the directive of the Accountant-General after due process was followed. Both accounts cannot be true,” he said.

He said the conflicting testimonies had plunged the Tinubu administration into one of the gravest credibility crises in Nigeria’s democratic history, adding that he could only sympathise with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the situation.

“When two of your most sensitive financial and monetary authorities publicly contradict each other on the same transaction, no serious leader needs a clairvoyant to know that his administration is trapped in a web of deception and a profound crisis of credibility. The President cannot continue to watch from the sidelines while his government tears itself apart with conflicting narratives,” Atiku said.

He insisted that Tinubu must clarify which of the two accounts he believed, warning that continued inaction deepened public suspicion that image management had taken precedence over the truth.

“President Tinubu must answer a simple question: Which version does he believe—the Accountant-General’s or the Central Bank’s? If he believes neither, why has he not acted? Every day he delays ordering a truly independent investigation, he deepens public suspicion that preserving his administration’s image has taken precedence over establishing the truth,” he said.

Atiku also faulted the continued silence of the Attorney-General of the Federation, describing it as a factor compounding the crisis.

“The continued silence of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the nation’s chief law officer, only compounds this credibility crisis and reinforces the perception that this administration is more interested in containing the political fallout than uncovering the truth,” he said.

He maintained that the scandal had gone beyond a dispute over disputed accounts to become a referendum on the President’s integrity and competence, querying how many other abuses might have gone undetected because of weak institutional oversight.

“The PFIPC scandal has ceased to be merely about disputed accounts. It has become a referendum on President Tinubu’s integrity and competence. If a single individual could allegedly orchestrate a scheme that has thrown two of Nigeria’s most critical financial and monetary authorities into public contradiction, Nigerians are entitled to ask how many other abuses may have escaped detection because of weak oversight and institutional failure,” he said.

Atiku insisted that the president owed Nigerians an apology and had forfeited the moral authority to remain in office if he failed to act.

“President Tinubu owes Nigerians an unreserved apology for presiding over this unprecedented collapse of public accountability. If he cannot immediately restore public confidence through a genuinely independent investigation and ensure that everyone responsible is held to account, then he has forfeited the moral authority to continue in office. The honourable course is simple: apologise to Nigerians and resign.”