ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar is calling on President Bola Tinubu to step down, arguing that conflicting explanations from two top financial institutions have left the administration with a serious credibility problem.
In a statement released Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku pointed to testimony given by the Central Bank of Nigeria to the House of Representatives.
According to him, it directly contradicts an earlier position from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation on the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council accounts.
The Accountant-General’s office had denied authorizing the PFIPC accounts and alleged forgery.
The CBN, appearing before lawmakers, said the accounts were opened on the Accountant-General’s directive and that due process was followed.
“Both accounts cannot be true,” Atiku said. “This is where the cover-up appears to begin.”
He said the public disagreement between the CBN and the OAGF shows an administration “trapped in a web of deception.”
“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 in a profound crisis of credibility,” Atiku stated. “The President cannot continue to watch from the sidelines while his government tears itself apart with conflicting narratives.”
Atiku posed a direct question to Tinubu: which version does he believe, the Accountant-General’s or the CBN’s? He added that if the President believes neither, he should have acted already.
He accused the government of prioritizing image management over truth by delaying an independent investigation.
He also criticized the silence of the Attorney-General of the Federation, saying it reinforces the impression that the administration is focused on containing political damage rather than uncovering facts.
Atiku urged the National Assembly to immediately summon both the Accountant-General and the CBN Governor to appear together, under oath, before its investigative committee.
He framed the PFIPC issue as bigger than disputed accounts. “It has become a referendum on President Tinubu’s integrity and competence,” he said. “If a single individual could allegedly orchestrate a scheme that has thrown two of Nigeria’s most critical financial and monetary authorities into public contradiction, Nigerians are entitled to ask how many other abuses may have escaped detection because of weak oversight.”
Atiku concluded that Tinubu “owes Nigerians an unreserved apology for presiding over this unprecedented collapse of public accountability.”
He said if the President cannot restore confidence through a truly independent probe and hold those responsible to account, “then he has forfeited the moral authority to continue in office. The honourable course is simple: apologise to Nigerians and resign.”
