PFIPC & ₦8.8tn IMF alert: ‘Sign Federal Audit Bill or resign,’ Atiku tells Tinubu
Tinubu’s delay in assenting to Audit Bill violates 30-day constitutional limit, says ex-VP
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has issued a fierce ultimatum to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanding that he either sign the long-delayed Federal Audit Service Bill into law or resign from office.
In a scathing statement released on Friday by his media adviser, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused the current administration of demonstrating complete indifference toward constitutional discipline, fiscal accountability, and the rule of law.
The opposition leader linked the presidency’s prolonged delay in assenting to the critical oversight legislation to a wave of ongoing financial scandals rocking the country, including an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report exposing ₦8.8 trillion in unaccounted public expenditure, alongside the fraudulent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) budget scam.
A clear constitutional violation
Atiku reminded President Tinubu that his refusal to take a definitive stance on the legislation represents a direct breach of the country’s supreme law.
Citing Section 58(4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), Atiku emphasised that the executive has a strict, non-negotiable 30-day window to either assent to or formally withhold assent from any bill transmitted by the National Assembly.
“That provision is neither decorative nor discretionary. It is a constitutional command,” Atiku stated. “The framers of our Constitution never envisaged a president who would simply sit on legislation indefinitely while governance drifts without certainty or accountability.”
According to the ADC flagbearer, the Federal Audit Service Bill was specifically designed to modernise Nigeria’s archaic financial oversight architecture, guarantee the operational independence of the Auditor-General, and tighten legislative control over public spending. He argued that intentionally delaying the bill sends a dangerous signal to international observers and citizens demanding transparency.
The PFIPC connection
Connecting the legislative delay to recent high-profile corruption scandals, Atiku argued that the controversial inclusion of the fake PFIPC agency in the 2026 federal budget is a direct consequence of weakened oversight structures.
“Every major scandal begins with a smaller act of institutional neglect,” the statement read. “It begins when constitutional provisions are treated as optional, when oversight institutions are weakened, and when those entrusted with enforcing the law become comfortable operating outside its clear boundaries.”
He maintained that regardless of what the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) uncovers in its current investigation of the phantom ₦1.3 billion PFIPC budget insertion, the scandal has exposed how dangerously vulnerable Nigeria’s public treasury has become under the current political leadership.
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