The Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a bench warrant for the immediate arrest of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled “Director-General” of the disputed Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The arrest order was handed down on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, by Justice Mohammed Umar following Adeyemi’s failure to appear in court for his scheduled arraignment on an eight-count criminal charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, and impersonation.
The Courtroom Drama
When the case—listed as number 12 on the day’s cause list—was called, the defendant’s dock remained empty, prompting the police prosecution counsel, Wisdom Madaki, to make an oral application for a warrant of arrest.
Madaki lamented the persistent delays in the trial, pointing out that the defense had repeatedly stalled the legal process.
“My lord, this is the fifth time this case is coming up, and all the adjournments have been at the instance of the defendant,” Madaki argued, urging the court to invoke Section 394 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 to compel Adeyemi’s appearance.
In a swift counter-move, Adeyemi’s defense counsel, Genesis Francis, pleaded with the court to show leniency, explaining that his client’s absence was not an act of disrespect but a necessary measure to stay alive. Francis told the court that Adeyemi had faced severe, credible threats to his life and had even written an official letter to President Bola Tinubu detailing his security concerns.
According to the defense, Adeyemi was hiding purely out of fear and fully intended to face trial once his safety could be guaranteed.
Justice Umar, however, was entirely unimpressed by the explanation. Waving away the defense’s excuse, the judge dryly retorted that the court would “help him to be alive” before ordering law enforcement to arrest and produce the self-acclaimed DG. Justice Umar subsequently adjourned the case to September 30, 2026, for arraignment.
The Shadow of Asylum and Parent Arrests
The court’s decision adds a chaotic new chapter to the high-stakes PFIPC scandal, which has rapidly escalated beyond a standard fraud trial.
Only a day prior, reports surfaced that a United States-based lobbying firm had stepped in to assist Adeyemi in seeking political asylum in the U.S., citing the alleged security threats. During a televised Zoom interview on Monday evening, Adeyemi also raised alarms that unidentified security operatives had raided his family home.
The controversy deepened on Tuesday following unconfirmed reports that police officers had arrested Adeyemi’s elderly father and a family associate at their residence in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, in an apparent attempt to flush the suspect out of hiding.
The move has drawn sharp condemnation from human rights groups and senior advocates, including Femi Falana (SAN), who warned that Nigerian law strictly prohibits “substituted arrests” of relatives in place of criminal suspects. The Nigeria Police Force has so far remained silent on the alleged detention of Adeyemi’s father.
The Core of the Scandal
The federal government maintains that the PFIPC is a completely “ghost agency” built entirely on falsified documents, forged presidential seals, and a counterfeit appointment letter bearing the forged signature of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. Police investigations also revealed that Adeyemi operated 34 bank accounts, including nine opened under fictitious agency names, and successfully misled financial authorities into opening a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account for the phantom body.
Conversely, Adeyemi has maintained that he acted in good faith, claiming he was allocated physical office space in the Federal Secretariat and was convinced the appointment was genuine. In an explosive twist, he claimed he borrowed ₦400 million to pay as a “facilitation fee” to Gbajabiamila through a proxy to secure the job, and has begged President Tinubu to set up an independent, international panel to investigate the matter, claiming a standard government probe would only result in a cover-up.
With a federal bench warrant now officially active, the Nigeria Police Force has been mandated to track down, arrest, and detain the controversial figure ahead of his September trial date.
Ayodele Quadri
Correspondent
