Police arrest Adeyemi after court issues warrant over fake agency
The Nigerian Police have arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi, the disowned Director-General of the non-existent PFIPC, after he failed to appear in court for his arraignment.
The Nigerian Police Force has arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi, the disowned Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC). Adeyemi’s arrest came hours after Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a warrant for his arrest following an oral application by the prosecution lawyer, Wisdom Madaki.
This followed his failure to appear in court for his scheduled arraignment on charges regarding the activities of the PFIPC. Police spokesperson Anietie Iniedu confirmed the arrest on Tuesday. During Tuesday’s sitting, the judge waved away the excuse by Adeyemi’s lawyer, Genesis Francis, for his client’s absence. The defence lawyer said his client was absent from court because he feared for his life and that he had written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu about it.
Not swayed by the assertions, Judge Umar responded by telling the lawyer that the court would “help him to be alive.” The judge also set 30 September as the new date for the defendant’s arraignment. Adeyemi faces eight charges relating to his running and operation of the purported PFIPC, an agency the government has said does not exist. In counts one, two, three, four, six, seven, and eight, the prosecution accused Adeyemi and two others, identified as Femi and Anu, who are said to be at large, of conspiracy and forgery involving several official documents.
The case had suffered several adjournments since Adeyemi was charged to court last November. If convicted, Adeyemi faces up to 21 years’ imprisonment without the option of a fine on the forgery-related counts. The impersonation charge carries a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment or a fine.
The scandal became public after the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disowned Adeyemi and the PFIPC. The presidency maintained that no such agency existed under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
This echoes the 2012 pension fraud scandal, when billions of naira were siphoned through fictitious pensioners. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: fake entities operating within government systems.
The winners: the police, who have made an arrest, and the court, which has asserted its authority. The losers: Adeyemi, who faces prosecution, and the Nigerian government, which had a fake agency operating in its systems.
Bottom Line: The man behind Nigeria’s fake agency scandal is finally in custody. He faces 21 years in prison. The question is whether the court will finally deliver justice or whether this case will join the long list of Nigerian scandals that fizzle out.