PFIPC Scandal: ICPC Whitewash Leaves Bigger Questions Unanswered, Says HURIWA

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has faulted the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC) interim report on the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), describing it as a “whitewash” that leaves the most critical questions surrounding the scandal unanswered.
The rights group said the anti-graft agency’s findings appeared to focus almost exclusively on the alleged actions of one suspect while failing to establish how a body later declared non-existent by the Presidency allegedly gained access to government institutions, secured official recognition and reportedly found its way into the 2026 Appropriation Act.
In a statement issued on Friday and signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA said the interim report reinforced its earlier fears that the investigation would end with the prosecution of a single individual while overlooking the institutional failures and possible official complicity that enabled the controversial organisation to operate.
The ICPC had alleged that Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi forged official documents, falsely presented himself as Director-General of the PFIPC, established fictitious government agencies, opened bank accounts using forged documents and exploited weaknesses in government institutions.
However, HURIWA argued that the allegations merely exposed what it described as “the visible tip of a much deeper institutional failure.”
According to the group, no credible anti-corruption investigation should conclude that one private citizen single-handedly infiltrated several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), secured official engagements, interacted extensively with public institutions and allegedly operated under the identity of a federal agency without significant negligence, institutional compromise or possible collaboration by public officials.
“It stretches credibility beyond reasonable limits to suggest that one individual acting alone successfully penetrated multiple government institutions and sustained such operations without failures within the public service,” the organisation said.
HURIWA questioned how the PFIPC allegedly acquired official legitimacy despite later being declared non-existent by the Presidency.
It demanded answers on who admitted the operators into government circles, who approved official meetings, who processed the agency’s documents, who ignored established verification procedures and how the controversial body allegedly appeared in the 2026 national budget with a multi-billion-naira allocation.
“These are the questions Nigerians expected the ICPC to answer. Instead, the interim report appears overwhelmingly focused on the alleged criminal conduct of one individual while leaving unanswered the institutional and official dimensions of the scandal,” the statement added.
The advocacy group also expressed concern over reports that the ICPC recommended administrative sanctions for some public officers whose negligence allegedly facilitated the operations of the fake agency.
According to HURIWA, where evidence establishes criminal misconduct rather than mere negligence, administrative punishment alone would be inadequate.
The group noted that the ICPC itself acknowledged weaknesses in inter-agency coordination, document verification procedures and internal control mechanisms, insisting that such failures did not occur in isolation but resulted from identifiable human decisions and official omissions.
It therefore urged the anti-corruption agency to widen its investigation to include every public official whose actions or inaction may have contributed to the scandal, regardless of status or political influence.
HURIWA also called on the National Assembly to intensify its independent investigation into the PFIPC affair and publicly establish the chain of events that enabled the controversial organisation to gain official access and legitimacy within government circles.
The group maintained that the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-corruption campaign would not be measured by the conviction of one suspect alone but by the willingness of investigators to uncover the full extent of the alleged fraud and identify everyone who played a role in it.
It further urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that the investigation is pursued to its logical conclusion and that every individual against whom credible evidence emerges is subjected to the same standard of justice, irrespective of office or political connections.
HURIWA warned that until Nigerians receive a comprehensive account of how a body officially declared non-existent allegedly operated within government institutions and featured in official processes, the PFIPC controversy would remain one of the most significant tests of transparency, accountability and institutional integrity facing the current administration.