Segun Atanda/
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to launch a full-scale investigation into the activities of the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), describing it as a fictitious body with no legal or constitutional backing.
The President directed the anti-corruption agency to conclude its investigation within 30 days and submit a comprehensive report, following revelations that the purported council was never created by the Federal Government and has no basis in any law, presidential directive, executive approval or other lawful government instrument.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, one Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew allegedly presented himself as the Director-General of the fake council while falsely claiming to be a presidential appointee.
The investigation will examine allegations that forged appointment letters and other official government documents were used to project legitimacy for the non-existent agency. It will also probe claims that the false presidential appointment was deployed to seek official recognition, diplomatic support, including visa facilitation, and to open multiple bank accounts in the names of purported government agencies.
President Tinubu instructed the ICPC to widen its investigation beyond the principal suspect to include all collaborators and anyone who may have enabled the alleged fraud.
The probe is expected to determine how forged official documents were produced and used, how recognition or diplomatic support may have been obtained, the opening and operation of related bank accounts, the source and movement of funds, and the possible involvement of public officials, private individuals, financial institutions, intermediaries or other entities linked to the scheme.
The President also directed the commission to identify institutional loopholes that may have been exploited and recommend immediate reforms to prevent similar abuses in the future.
To facilitate the investigation, all federal ministries, departments and agencies have been instructed to cooperate fully with the ICPC by providing all relevant records, information and assistance upon lawful request.
Reaffirming his administration’s commitment to accountability, Tinubu said the integrity of the Presidency and federal institutions must be safeguarded against impersonation, forgery, abuse of official identity and the exploitation of weaknesses within the public service.
He stressed that anyone found culpable at the end of the investigation should face the full weight of the law.
Related posts:
Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia in Tears as Corruption Trial Begins
Interrogating Two Years of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy Under President Tinubu
ICAN Leaders Condemn Smear Campaign as Faceless Group Attacks Members
Cashless Nigeria: Why Emefiele May Lose the War – Femi Kusa …Musings on Buhari, Tinubu, Peter Obi, CBN
Internal Security Dynamics and the Imperative of a New Policing Thought in Nigeria
Owasanoye Affirms Buhari’s Commitment to Fighting Corruption, as ICPC Board is Inaugurated