Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that the confidentiality of his personal banking information may have been compromised following a suspicious transfer into one of his private accounts.
Atiku also called President Bola Tinubu to name the insiders in the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal, describing the interim report of the ICPC on the PFIPC as an indictment that raises more questions than it answers.
Atiku, who described the suspicious transfer into one of his private accounts as a serious threat to the financial privacy of Nigerians, said the incident has raised concerns about how confidential banking information could have been accessed by unknown individuals.
The allegation was contained in a statement issued Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
According to the statement, an unidentified person transferred money into Atiku’s personal bank account domiciled with one of Nigeria’s leading commercial banks.
The transaction reportedly carried the narration, “Contribution Electioneering Campaign.”
The former Vice President maintained that neither he nor his campaign organisation requested, approved or had any prior knowledge of the payment.
He stressed that the account involved is a strictly private one and that its details have never been made public, questioning how an unknown individual obtained the information.
“The account is a strictly private one whose details are not in the public domain. This raises a fundamental question: How did unknown persons obtain the confidential banking details of a private citizen?” the statement read.
Atiku warned that the development goes beyond his personal circumstances, arguing that it casts doubt on the security of financial data belonging to millions of Nigerians.
“If the private banking information of a former Vice President and a leading presidential candidate can be accessed and deployed for reasons yet unknown, then no Nigerian’s financial privacy is safe,” the statement added.
The former Vice President further suggested that the alleged leak could only have originated from persons with privileged access to sensitive banking information, describing such an act as a grave abuse of power.
According to him, exposing the banking details of citizens could leave them vulnerable to criminal activities, including kidnapping, terrorism, banditry, fraud and other security threats.
The statement also said the incident had been brought to the attention of Nigerians and relevant security agencies, describing it as one of several suspicious developments occurring ahead of the 2027 general elections.
While urging the public to ignore what it called attempts to smear Atiku’s reputation, the statement insisted that the former Vice President remains committed to pursuing his presidential ambition and presenting what it described as practical solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
“The Waziri Adamawa remains focused on offering Nigerians credible leadership and practical solutions to the nation’s challenges,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Shaibu on the ICPC report concerning PFIPC scandal, Atiku said the Presidency cannot parade the report as an exoneration when the same report reportedly acknowledges “negligence and connivance” within government processes that enabled the alleged fraud.
According to the findings, one individual allegedly forged a presidential appointment letter, created a fictitious federal agency, appropriated offices and instruments of the former Presidential Economic Advisory Council, opened bank accounts using forged legislative instruments, engaged in widespread impersonation, and created two additional fictitious government agencies.
“Yet Nigerians are being told that State House systems were “above board.” Both claims cannot comfortably coexist,” Atiku said.
According to him, “If there was connivance, who connived? If public officers were negligent, who are they? Who granted access to government offices? Who recognised this supposed Director-General? Who enabled him to operate within the machinery of government?”
He further said that the ICPC’s reported recommendation of sanctions against public officers whose negligence facilitated the operation demolishes any attempt to portray the scandal as the work of a lone impostor.
“A fake agency does not walk into government offices by itself. A forged appointment letter does not validate itself. Bank accounts do not open themselves. Behind every door that opened, every process that was bypassed and every official instrument that was accessed was a human being. Name them.”
Atiku maintained that the unanswered questions surrounding the identities of insiders who allegedly facilitated the fraud further justify the demand for an independent panel of inquiry to undertake a comprehensive investigation.
“What the ICPC Interim Report has done, in the main, is to shield the identities of shadow operatives within the presidency who allegedly connived to enable the fraud. Their identities should be made public and their roles fully explained. Nigerians deserve to know who did what, who authorised what, and who opened the doors that made this possible.”
He added that an interim report cannot be converted into a presidential certificate of innocence while investigations into possible collaborators and associated bank accounts remain ongoing.
Atiku said the ultimate test of the government’s sincerity is openness, particularly now that the central figure in the saga, Mr. Adeyemi has publicly challenged the government by asking to appear before a National Assembly investigation broadcast live on national television.
“The Presidency now has nowhere left to hide. If Mr. Adeyemi is prepared to appear publicly, testify under oath, and answer questions before Nigerians, then let him be heard. The National Assembly should immediately institute an open, live-broadcast public hearing into this scandal.
“The Presidency must not attempt to block, gag, or shield anyone connected to this matter. If the Villa is truly clean, it should be the first to welcome live television coverage. Let Nigerians watch, unedited, as the witnesses testify, and the evidence is presented under oath. What is the presidency afraid of?”
Atiku said anything short of a transparent public hearing would only deepen suspicions that powerful interests are being protected.
“You can not admit negligence and connivance within government and simultaneously pronounce the system spotless. That is like washing charcoal and expecting white water.”
Atiku demanded the publication of the full ICPC report and the identities of every public official found culpable, insisting that only an independent and transparent inquiry can dispel legitimate suspicions of an attempt to protect politically exposed persons or officials within the Presidency who enabled the fraud.
“Transparency can not stop where the trail enters the corridors of power. The presidency can not investigate itself into innocence.
“Open the investigation. Put the witnesses under oath. Switch on the cameras. Let Nigerians hear the truth for themselves.
“The question remains: ‘who inside the Villa opened the door’ Atiku demanded
Chuks Okocha
