Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has demanded an independent probe into a N6.44 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act designated for a “Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers”.
The former vice president raised the concerns because Nigeria was already eliminated from the qualification process in November 2025, about one month before the 2026 budget was presented to and considered by the National Assembly.
Atiku raised the alarm over the development in a statement released on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
Recall that for weeks now Nigerians have been inundated with the controversy over the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
On Tuesday, the police arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled Director General of the fake agency, which was allocated N1.3 billion in the 2026 budget.
In the statement on Wednesday, Atiku drew attention to the allocation of N6.44 billion in the 2026 budget for the ‘Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.’
Atiku queried how a serious government could budget such a sum for presidential support for World Cup qualifiers after the country had already been knocked out of contention, demanding to know who inserted the provision, who approved it and who was expected to benefit from an expenditure whose stated purpose had already ceased to exist.
“How does a serious government budget N6.44 billion for presidential support for World Cup qualifiers after the country had already been eliminated? What competition was the money intended to support? Who inserted the provision, who approved it and who was expected to benefit from an expenditure whose stated purpose had already ceased to exist?” Atiku queried.
He described the allocation as not merely an example of poor judgment but a damning indictment of the integrity of the budgeting process, saying it reinforced public suspicion that the national budget had become a warehouse for dubious expenditures, fiscal waste and allocations without any defensible public purpose.
Atiku situated the World Cup allocation within the wider controversy surrounding the phantom Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), accusing the President Bola Tinubu administration of a plot to manipulate the narrative around the scandal, shield government officials from scrutiny and redirect blame towards the opposition.
He described the recent arrest of Adeyemi, as a calculated move allegedly intended to extract statements that could be deployed to implicate opposition figures rather than uncover the full truth behind the scandal.
Atiku said the PFIPC controversy could not be reduced to the alleged actions of Adeyemi alone, noting that an organisation the Presidency now claims was fictitious allegedly penetrated the highest levels of government, obtained diplomatic recognition and accreditation, recruited more than 300 personnel, secured office accommodation at the Federal Secretariat, and reportedly received budgetary allocations, including an alleged N1.3 billion provision in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
He maintained that such extensive operations could not have occurred without either active official collaboration or a catastrophic breakdown of oversight across multiple government institutions.
“The scandal is not merely that one man allegedly impersonated public authority. The greater scandal is that the Tinubu administration allegedly opened the doors of the Nigerian state to him, allowed him to acquire the appearance and privileges of official legitimacy and permitted him to interact with institutions and diplomatic interests in the name of the federal government.
“The Tinubu administration has a peculiar proclivity for propaganda, and we are reliably informed that there are plans to twist the facts of the PFIPC scandal, absolve those within the government who ought to answer questions and manufacture a politically convenient story against the opposition,” Atiku stated.
He reiterated his earlier demand for an independent investigation, arguing that an administration whose senior officials have been mentioned in the controversy cannot credibly investigate itself behind closed doors.
“Finally, this is precisely why we demanded an independent investigation from the very beginning. If not a government consumed by confusion and emboldened by impunity, how does the executive order a sweeping fresh investigation into matters that are already before a court of competent jurisdiction? Such conduct is not only reckless; it raises legitimate concerns about an attempt to control the narrative and undermine the integrity of the judicial process.
“We therefore call on the National Assembly to immediately constitute an independent bipartisan panel to investigate every aspect of the PFIPC scandal.
“We also urge the Nigerian Bar Association, civil society organisations, the diplomatic community and every Nigerian of good conscience to reject any choreographed cover-up masquerading as an investigation.
“The truth must not become another casualty of political expediency. This scandal must be subjected to an independent, transparent and credible probe because if a government can manipulate the facts of a scandal in which it is itself implicated, then accountability itself is in danger,” he said.
