The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed an amended charge against Adeniyi Adeyemi, director-general of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), in the ongoing case involving alleged forgery and impersonation.
The ICPC increased the criminal counts against Adeyemi from
22 to 36 and included four more defendants, who are civil servants.
The new defendants are Patricia Akhigbe, Florence Omameh,
Aminu Abdullahi, and Ogaba Harry.
The defendants are attached to the offices of the
secretary-general of the federation, accountant-general of the federation, and
the federal ministry of budget and economic planning.
During the court proceedings on Monday at the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT) high court, Sylvanus Tahir, counsel to the ICPC, said
the agency had amended the charge in the case.
The case was earlier scheduled for hearing of Adeyemi’s bail
application.
Tahir told the court that the arraignment of the five
defendants in the amended charge could not take place today because the fourth
defendant — Omameh — is absent on health grounds.
The ICPC counsel said the four defendants in the case,
including Adeyemi, are present in court.
The counsel appealed to the court to grant a short
adjournment to allow the fourth defendant appear before the court.
Halilu Yusuf, the trial judge, granted the request and
adjourned the case to November 18 for arraignment.
In October, ICPC arraigned Adeyemi on a 22-count charge over
alleged forgery and impersonation.
The arraignment was sequel to the dismissal of an earlier
eight-count charge against Adeyemi by a federal high court in Abuja on October
12.
The eight charge was withdrawn after the federal government
sought to terminate the proceedings, following a review by the attorney-general
of the federation (AGF).
Mohammed Umar, presiding judge, had struck out the charge
after the federal government’s application.
The self-styled DG was first arraigned on an eight-count
charge on September 30, 2026. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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 to the
president, received N400 million through a proxy for his appointment letter.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com