Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the National Assembly to summon the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) over what he described as conflicting accounts regarding the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) bank accounts.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the contradictory positions taken by the CBN and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) have plunged the Tinubu administration into a credibility crisis.
According to Atiku, the testimony presented by the CBN before the House of Representatives directly contradicts the OAGF's earlier explanation on how the PFIPC accounts were opened, raising concerns of a possible cover-up.
"This is where the cover-up appears to begin. One institution denied authorising the opening of the PFIPC accounts and alleged forgery. Another, before the representatives of the Nigerian people, stated that the accounts were opened on the directive of the Accountant-General after due process was followed. Both accounts cannot be true," he said.
The former vice president argued that the conflicting narratives have left the administration entangled in what he called "a web of deception" and a serious credibility challenge.
"When two of your most sensitive financial and monetary authorities publicly contradict each other on the same transaction, no serious leader needs a clairvoyant to know that his administration is trapped in a web of deception and a profound crisis of credibility," Atiku stated.
He added that President Bola Tinubu should no longer remain silent while key government institutions present opposing versions of the same issue.
"The President cannot continue to watch from the sidelines while his government tears itself apart with conflicting narratives," he said.
Atiku challenged the President to clarify which account he accepts as accurate.
"President Tinubu must answer a simple question: Which version does he believe—the Accountant-General's or the Central Bank's? If he believes neither, why has he not acted? Every day he delays ordering a truly independent investigation, he deepens public suspicion that preserving his administration's image has taken precedence over establishing the truth."
He also criticized the Attorney-General of the Federation for not addressing the controversy, arguing that the silence has further undermined public confidence.
"The continued silence of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the nation's chief law officer, only compounds this credibility crisis and reinforces the perception that this administration is more interested in containing the political fallout than uncovering the truth," he said.
Atiku called on the National Assembly to invite both the CBN Governor and the Accountant-General to appear jointly before its investigative committee under oath to reconcile the conflicting accounts.
He maintained that if a single individual could allegedly orchestrate a scheme capable of placing two of Nigeria's most critical financial institutions in public contradiction, it raises broader concerns about oversight failures and the possibility of other undetected abuses.
The former vice president also urged President Tinubu to immediately order an independent investigation into the matter to establish the facts and restore public confidence in the country's financial institutions.
