The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected President Bola Tinubu’s decision to assign the investigation into allegations surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), saying the presidency cannot be expected to oversee a credible probe into a matter involving allegations connected to government institutions.
On Wednesday, the opposition party said the main concern was not just the choice of the ICPC as the investigating body, but whether an agency under the government could independently examine allegations involving the same administration. The ADC argued that only a separate and independent inquiry would be able to produce findings that Nigerians could trust.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, shared the ADC’s position in a statement, describing the ICPC investigation as an in-house review of a controversy that has drawn attention both within Nigeria and internationally. Abdullahi argued that the process lacked credibility, saying, A government that is drowning in scandals cannot be trusted to investigate itself.
The ADC said President Tinubu’s decision to order a probe showed that the allegations surrounding the PFIPC matter could no longer be ignored, despite what it described as the presidency’s earlier efforts to dismiss the claims. The party said it had previously called for an independent investigation and identified institutions it believed should be examined.
The party called on President Tinubu to set up an independent judicial panel made up of respected Nigerians, arguing that such a body would be better placed to investigate the allegations without concerns about interference or influence.
“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 said.
The ADC also accused the presidency of reaching conclusions too early by describing appointment letters and other documents linked to the controversy as forged before investigators had completed their work. The party said the investigation should determine whether the documents were forged, improperly issued, fraudulently obtained or legally issued under presidential authority.
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 party said. It added that investigators should be free to follow the evidence wherever it leads rather than operate based on conclusions reached before the investigation.
The party also questioned whether all offices connected to the presidency, including the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, would receive the same level of scrutiny during the process. The ADC said equal treatment and transparency would be important in ensuring public confidence in the outcome.
The ICPC, Nigeria’s anti corruption agency responsible for investigating corruption related offences involving public officials, has previously handled cases involving government institutions. The debate over the PFIPC investigation reflects wider concerns in Nigeria and other democracies about how allegations involving those in power should be investigated. The presidency has not yet responded publicly to the ADC’s latest criticism.
