A federal high court in Abuja has struck out the eight-count criminal charge filed against Adeniyi Adeyemi, director-general of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Mohammed Umar, presiding judge, struck out the charge on
Monday following an application by the federal government to terminate the
trial, pending Adeyemi’s fresh arraignment before the high court of the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).
Rotimi Oyedepo, director of public prosecutions of the federation (DPPF), told the court that the attorney-general of the federation had reviewed the case file and identified issues with the charge initially filed by the inspector-general of police (IGP).
Oyedepo, a senior advocate of Nigeria, said the review found
that the alleged forged documents involved in Adeyemi’s operations of the
purported agency fell within the jurisdiction of the Federal Capital Territory
high court and not the federal high court.
He added that a fresh charge had been filed before the FCT
high court and that the government intended to arraign Adeyemi afresh without
delay.
The prosecution subsequently prayed the court to strike out
the existing charge.
Ibrahim Angulu, Adeyemi’s lawyer, did not oppose the
application.
Umar consequently struck out the charge.
BACK STORY
Adeyemi has been in police custody since he was arrested in
Osun state on July 14.
Prior to his arrest, a federal high court in Abuja ordered
his arrest after he failed to honour the court’s summons.
Adeyemi was the mastermind of the fictitious PFIPC that
operated like a government agency, receiving an allocation in the 2026 budget,
occupying an office at the federal secretariat and also recruiting staff,
without any legal standing or presidential declaration.
He had alleged that Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff,
collected N400 million through a proxy for the appointment letter into the
fictitious agency.
Following public outcry, President Bola Tinubu ordered the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to
investigate the PFIPC scandal.
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