Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi, director-general of the “controversial” Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Osun State police spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the arrest, saying Adeyemi was apprehended in the state on Tuesday by operatives of the intelligence response team (IRT).
Earlier on Tuesday, a federal high court in Abuja ordered the arrest of Adeyemi after he failed to honour the court’s summons.
Muhammed Umar, the trial judge, issued a bench warrant for Adeyemi’s arrest after Genesis Francis, his lawyer, told the court he had been unable to persuade his client to attend the proceedings.
Umar noted that the charges against Adeyemi were filed on November 27, 2025, while proceedings commenced on December 4, 2025.
The judge adjourned the case to September 30, 2026.
In November 2025, police filed an eight-count charge against Adeyemi, and two others simply identified as Femi and Anu over alleged forgery and impersonation.
The police had accused Adeyemi and the two other suspects of forging presidential letter headed papers.
The PFIPC controversy has generated public attention after the presidency described the council as a fictitious organisation in June.
Despite the absence of any legal framework or presidential declaration establishing it, PFIPC operated like a government agency, receiving an allocation in the 2026 budget, occupying an office at the federal secretariat and also recruiting staff.
Adeyemi had alleged that Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff, collected N400 million through a proxy for the appointment letter into the fictitious agency.
President Bola Tinubu had ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the PFIPC scandal.
On Monday, Adeyemi appealed to Tinubu to constitute an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the council and the alleged N1.3 billion budget allocation.
