ADC Accuses ICPC of Shielding Government Officials in PFIPC Probe

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) of shielding some government officials in its investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

In a statement issued on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party criticised the ICPC’s interim report, describing it as “predictable” and inadequate.

The ICPC had recommended the prosecution of PFIPC Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, after concluding that the council had no legal backing and did not exist as a government agency. The commission, however, cleared the Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria of wrongdoing while attributing the scandal to institutional lapses across some ministries, departments and agencies.

The ADC questioned how a purportedly fictitious agency could have secured office space at the Federal Secretariat, had civil servants deployed to it, received official vehicles and security personnel, and appeared in the 2026 budget with a reported N1.3 billion allocation.

The party argued that these developments could not have occurred without the involvement or negligence of officials within government institutions.

The ADC also questioned why Adeyemi was the only person recommended for prosecution while the ICPC said investigations were still ongoing.

According to the party, the discovery of two additional fictitious organisations allegedly linked to Adeyemi should have widened the investigation rather than narrowing responsibility to one individual.

The opposition party further demanded an explanation of how PFIPC was included in the 2026 Appropriation Act, arguing that budgetary allocations are expected to leave records, approvals and audit trails.

It noted that the National Assembly had also begun investigating how the purported agency found its way into the federal budget.

The ADC called for the immediate publication of the full ICPC interim report and urged the anti-corruption agency to identify and sanction all public officials whose actions or negligence may have enabled the alleged fraud.

The party maintained that Nigerians deserved a comprehensive investigation capable of tracing the alleged scam across government institutions rather than an exercise focused on a single individual.

The ADC said anything short of following the evidence wherever it leads would undermine public confidence in the investigation and leave unanswered questions about how the alleged fictitious agency operated within the Federal Government.