The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi, the Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), in Osun State following a court-issued warrant over allegations of fraud, forgery and impersonation.
Adeyemi was apprehended by operatives of the Force Intelligence Department’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) at a hideout in a village in Ijesaland, Osun State. Security sources disclosed that the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracked him for five days before the case was handed over to the police for arrest.
The arrest came just hours after Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a bench warrant against Adeyemi after he failed to appear in court for his scheduled arraignment.
The police had filed an eight-count charge against him bordering on forgery, fraud and impersonation. Although his lawyer appeared in court, Adeyemi was absent, prompting the prosecution to request a warrant for his arrest after noting that he had repeatedly failed to attend court proceedings.
Defence counsel Genesis Francis argued that his client stayed away because of alleged threats to his life, insisting that Adeyemi was willing to face trial but feared for his safety.
Justice Umar, however, ruled that the defendant had appeared only once since the case was filed in November 2025 and had missed four consecutive court dates. The judge consequently ordered security agencies to arrest him and produce him before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
Police investigations allege that Adeyemi forged official documents and appointment letters to portray the PFIPC as a legitimate Federal Government agency. Authorities said the investigation began after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over forged government documents allegedly used to appoint individuals into the council.
Investigators further alleged that despite lacking any legal backing, the PFIPC operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, secured a budget allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Bill and recruited staff.
Before his arrest, Adeyemi had denied going into hiding, maintaining in a television interview that he only stayed out of public view because of threats to his life. He also insisted that the PFIPC was legitimate and called on President Bola Tinubu to establish an independent panel to investigate the controversy surrounding the council and the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged President Tinubu to suspend his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to allow an independent investigation into allegations linking him to the PFIPC controversy. Atiku argued that public officials facing serious allegations should not be shielded from scrutiny.
READ ALSO:
- NESCAFÉ Next Level Promo Rewards Over 41,000 Nigerians With Cash, Business Grants
- Economy Stabilising After Three Years of Reforms, Tinubu Tells Deloitte Africa
- Court Grants Ex-CCT Chairman Danladi Umar ₦100m Bail Over Corruption Charges
- Senate Approves ₦50m For Families Of Slain Teachers, Soldiers In Oyo Abduction
- FirstBank-Sponsored ‘Mary’ Musical Play Wows Audience with AI-Infused Storytelling | By Oladapo Sofowora
