Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi, the director-general of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), following a bench warrant issued by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Gatekeepers News reports that Adeyemi was apprehended on Tuesday in Osun State by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), according to the Osun State Police Command spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, who confirmed the arrest to TheCable.
The arrest came hours after Justice Muhammed Umar ordered Adeyemi’s arrest for failing to appear before the court despite repeated summons.
The bench warrant was issued after Adeyemi’s counsel, Genesis Francis, informed the court that he had been unable to convince his client to attend the proceedings.
Justice Umar noted that the criminal charges against Adeyemi were filed on November 27, 2025, while the case formally commenced on December 4, 2025. The matter was subsequently adjourned until September 30, 2026.
Background
The police had, in November 2025, filed an eight-count charge against Adeyemi and two other individuals identified simply as Femi and Anu, accusing them of forgery and impersonation.
According to the charges, the defendants allegedly forged official presidential letterhead documents.
The PFIPC has remained at the centre of controversy since June, when the Presidency declared the council a fictitious organisation.
Despite lacking any legal backing or presidential proclamation establishing it, the council reportedly functioned like a government agency, securing an allocation in the 2026 budget, operating from an office within the Federal Secretariat, and recruiting staff.
Adeyemi had also alleged that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, received N400 million through a proxy in connection with an appointment letter into the purported agency.
Following the controversy, President Bola Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the PFIPC scandal.
Just a day before his arrest, Adeyemi had appealed to President Tinubu to set up an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to examine the controversy surrounding the council and the alleged N1.3 billion budget allocation.
