Former vice-President Atiku Abubakar speaks during the People's Democratic Party (PDP)'s national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on October 6, 2018. - Nigeria's main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) has picked Abubakar to challenge President Buhari who is seeking a second term in presidential polls scheduled for February 2019. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP) (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed deep concern over the institutional loopholes and deep administrative lapses within the Bola Tinubu government.
Atiku said that the PFIPC scandal underscores profound administrative incompetence in the Tinubu administration that enabled phantom entities to infiltrate the heart of the federal government.
The former Vice President said that he is still trying to figure out how Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew could have deceived all the institutions and agencies that were meant to check and raise red flags about the creation and operation of the PFIPC.
According to the ADC Presidential candidate, the PFIPC scandal highlights several key issues regarding the Tinubu administration’s internal control and governance.
He noted that the provision of ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act to a fictitious council, points to weak oversight by the Budget Office, the National Assembly, and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
“How did Prince Adeyemi fool the Presidency, CBN, the Office of the SGF, National Assembly and the EFCC?
“How did this so-called agency that was not a legal creation come to have a budgetary provision, office, staff and even security details?
“How come the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives met with the so-called Director General of the agency without due diligence?”
The former Vice President said that Prince Adeyemi could not have pulled out this highscale fraud without the connivance of some officials of the state.
He noted the culture of forgery that has become the rule and not an exception, which has characterised the Tinubu-led APC administration could have invariably been an enabler of this con that caught security and regulatory agencies napping.
Atiku advised that to avert a repeat of this disgraceful episode, all those who may have provided institutional support to legitimise an illegal agency need to be identified and prosecuted.
