Police arrest PFIPC DG Adeyemi in Osun after court issues bench warrant

OPERATIVES of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have arrested Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, in Osun State following a bench warrant issued by a federal high court.

Spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the development on Tuesday, noting that officers of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) apprehended Adeyemi in the state.

The arrest came hours after a federal high court in Abuja ordered that Adeyemi be taken into custody for failing to appear before the court despite being summoned.

Justice Muhammed Umar issued the bench warrant after counsel to Adeyemi, Genesis Francis, informed the court that repeated efforts to convince his client to attend the proceedings had been unsuccessful.

The judge observed that the criminal charges against Adeyemi were filed on November 27, 2025, and that the case first came up on December 4, 2025. Following the issuance of the warrant, the matter was adjourned until September 30, 2026.

The police had, in November 2025, filed an 8-count charge against Adeyemi and 2 other defendants identified as Femi and Anu over allegations bordering on forgery and impersonation.

According to the charge, the defendants forged presidential letterheaded documents in connection with the operations of the PFIPC.

The council has been at the centre of controversy since the presidency declared in June that it was a fictitious organisation.

Although no law or presidential proclamation established the PFIPC, it reportedly functioned like a government agency, secured an allocation in the 2026 budget, operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat, and recruited staff.

Adeyemi had also alleged that the president’s Chief of Staff, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, received N400 million through an intermediary in exchange for the appointment letter linked to the purported agency.

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In response to the controversy, President Bola Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the PFIPC saga.

On Monday, Adeyemi appealed to the president to establish an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to examine the controversy surrounding the council, including the alleged N1.3 billion budget allocation.