Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has demanded an independent investigation into the alleged inclusion of ₦6.44 billion in Nigeria’s 2026 budget for a “Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers,” despite the Super Eagles having been eliminated from the qualification race before the budget was presented.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, also alleged that the administration of President Bola Tinubu was attempting to manipulate the narrative surrounding the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council scandal, shield government officials from scrutiny and redirect responsibility towards members of the opposition.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Nigeria was eliminated from the World Cup qualification process in November 2025, about one month before the 2026 Appropriation Bill was presented to and considered by the National Assembly.
He questioned the purpose of allocating ₦6.44 billion to support a qualification campaign that had already ended.
“How does a serious government budget ₦6.44 billion for presidential support for World Cup qualifiers after the country had already been eliminated?” Atiku asked.
“What competition was the money intended to support? Who inserted the provision, who approved it, and who was expected to benefit from an expenditure whose stated purpose had already ceased to exist?”
The former Vice President described the allocation as more than an error of judgment, arguing that it raised serious questions about the integrity and transparency of Nigeria’s budgeting process.
According to him, the provision reinforced public suspicion that the national budget had become a repository for questionable allocations, wasteful expenditure and projects without clearly defensible public purposes.
Atiku linked the disputed World Cup provision to the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the arrest of its self-proclaimed Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi.
He alleged that Adeyemi’s arrest could be part of an attempt to obtain statements that might be used to implicate opposition figures rather than fully investigate how the disputed organisation allegedly gained access to government institutions.
Atiku maintained that the PFIPC controversy could not be reduced to the alleged actions of Adeyemi alone.
He said the more serious questions concerned how an organisation which the Presidency had described as fictitious allegedly operated with the appearance of official recognition.
“The weightier scandal is how an organisation that the Presidency now claims was fictitious or non-existent allegedly penetrated the highest levels of government, obtained diplomatic recognition and accreditation, recruited more than 300 personnel, secured office accommodation at the National Secretariat and reportedly received budgetary allocations, including an alleged ₦1.3 billion provision in the 2026 Appropriation Act,” he said.
Atiku argued that operations of such scale could not have occurred without official collaboration or a serious breakdown of oversight across several government institutions.
“The scandal is not merely that one man allegedly impersonated public authority,” he said.
“The greater scandal is that the Tinubu administration allegedly opened the doors of the Nigerian state to him, allowed him to acquire the appearance and privileges of official legitimacy and permitted him to interact with institutions and diplomatic interests in the name of the Federal Government.”
Atiku said the alleged ₦6.44 billion World Cup allocation and the PFIPC controversy should be independently, transparently and impartially investigated.
He warned that the PFIPC matter had become an embarrassment to Nigeria’s international reputation and should not be allowed to disappear without a full accounting of the roles played by government officials and institutions.
The former Vice President compared the controversy with other unresolved matters, including the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry scandal, questions surrounding expenditure on refinery rehabilitation and disputed provisions in federal budgets.
He alleged that the administration had a tendency to rely on propaganda when confronted with public controversy.
