PFIPC: Atiku demands probe into N6.44bn failed World Cup qualification

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku queried how a serious government could budget such a sum for presidential support for World Cup qualifiers after the country had already been knocked out of contention, demanding to know who inserted the provision, who approved it and who was expected to benefit from an expenditure whose stated purpose had already ceased to exist.44 billion budgetary allocation for a “Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers”, despite Nigeria having already been eliminated from the qualification process in November 2025, about one month before the 2026 budget was presented to and considered by the National Assembly.

Atiku situated the World Cup allocation within the wider controversy surrounding the phantom Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), accusing the President Bola Tinubu administration of a plot to manipulate the narrative around the scandal, shield government officials from scrutiny and redirect blame towards the opposition.