(Atiku Abubakar. Photo by Daily Post)
Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), stated on Wednesday that the contradictory reports from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) regarding the contentious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) have revealed a government caught in its own contradictions.
Tinubu should apologize to Nigerians and step down from office, according to Atiku, who maintained that the president is stuck.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku Abubakar said the testimony presented by the Central Bank before the House of Representatives fundamentally contradicts the narrative earlier advanced by the Office of the Accountant-General, describing it as plunging the Tinubu administration into one of the gravest credibility crises in Nigeria’s democratic history.
He said the cover-up appeared to begin at the point where one institution denied authorising the opening of the PFIPC accounts and alleged forgery, while another, before representatives of the Nigerian people, stated that the accounts were opened on the directive of the Accountant-General after due process was followed, stressing that both accounts could not be true.
Atiku said one could only sympathise with President Tinubu, arguing that when two of the country’s most sensitive financial and monetary authorities publicly contradict each other over the same transaction, no serious leader needs special insight to recognise that his administration is trapped in a web of deception and a profound crisis of credibility.
He said the President could not continue to watch from the sidelines while his government tears itself apart with conflicting narratives, insisting that Tinubu must answer a simple question as to which version he believes the Accountant-General’s or the Central Bank’s and if he believes neither, why he has not acted.
He warned that every day the President delays ordering a truly independent investigation, he deepens public suspicion that preserving his administration’s image has taken precedence over establishing the truth.
He added that the continued silence of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the nation’s chief law officer, only compounds the credibility crisis and reinforces the perception that the administration is more interested in containing political fallout than uncovering the truth.
Atiku called on the National Assembly to immediately summon the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Governor of the Central Bank to appear together before its investigative committee under oath, so that Nigerians can finally hear one truthful account.
He said the PFIPC scandal had ceased to be merely about disputed accounts, describing it instead as a referendum on President Tinubu’s integrity and competence.
He argued that 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 due to weak oversight and institutional failure.
He said President Tinubu owes Nigerians an unreserved apology for presiding over this unprecedented collapse of public accountability, stating that if he cannot immediately restore public confidence through a genuinely independent investigation and ensure accountability for those responsible, then he would have forfeited the moral authority to continue in office.
He concluded that the honourable course would be for the President to apologise to Nigerians and resign.