The Federal Government is set to arrest Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, PFIPC, after he failed to appear in court.
Adeyemi was scheduled for arraignment on Monday before Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, over an eight-count charge bordering on forgery, fraud and impersonation. The charge is marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025.
Although the case was listed as No. 12 on the court’s cause list, the defendant was absent when the matter was called.
The Inspector General of Police, who is prosecuting the case, will apply for a bench warrant for Adeyemi’s arrest.
The charge against Adeyemi and two other defendants was filed on November 27, 2025, by a police prosecutor, Wisdom Madaki.
Among those billed to testify in the matter are the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester.
Other witnesses are civil servants working in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a deputy superintendent of police.
Adeyemi, whose whereabouts remained unknown, said in an interview he granted to Channels Television on Monday that his withdrawal from public view was due to alleged threats to his life.
He waved aside the insinuation that he was hiding from law enforcement agencies in a bid to evade investigations into his involvement in the alleged PFIPC fraud.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council.
According to Adeyemi, those from whom he borrowed the N400 million he used to secure the appointment had since dragged him before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents that he used to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the IGP on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
It added that preliminary findings showed that the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals and the Nigerian Coat of Arms and were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who had since denied that the PFIPC was fake, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
