Opposition Party Criticizes Government’s Handling of Alleged Fake Agency Investigation

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has sharply criticized the interim report released by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) regarding the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC). The party accused the federal government of prioritizing damage control over a thorough investigation.

In an official statement, the ADC argued that the commission’s preliminary report failed to adequately explain how an unauthorized entity managed to secure federal office space at the Federal Secretariat, receive deployed civil servants, and obtain a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 federal budget.

The opposition party rejected the narrative that the scandal was merely a procedural failure or the work of a single individual acting alone. Instead, the party asserted that operating such an entity required active cooperation from high-ranking government officials and institutions.

Key concerns raised include:

Institutional Access: How the unauthorized body secured office space, official vehicles with customized license plates, and armed security personnel.

Budgetary Provisions: The mechanism by which a non-existent agency was included in the 2026 Appropriation Act, which involves multi-layered submissions, verifications, and approvals.

Scope of Accountability: The necessity of identifying internal accomplices and civil servants whose actions or oversight enabled the entity to function with official legitimacy.

The party called for the full public disclosure of the ICPC’s interim findings and urged authorities to extend the investigation to all public officials whose conduct or oversight facilitated the operation of the council.