Court Remands ‘Fake’ PFIPC Boss Adeyemi

The Federal Government on Wednesday arraigned Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled Director-General of the disputed Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), before a Federal High Court in Abuja on an eight-count charge of conspiracy, forgery and impersonation.

Adeyemi, 38, also known as Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, pleaded not guilty to all the counts when they were read to him before Justice Mohammed Umar. The court ordered that he be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of his bail application, which has been fixed for October 12, 2026, alongside the commencement of trial.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, was originally filed by the Nigeria Police Force in November 2025 against Adeyemi and two other suspects identified only as Femi and Anu, who remain at large. The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has since taken over the prosecution. Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, appeared for the Federal Government.

Prosecutors allege that Adeyemi has since 2024 posed as head of the PFIPC — also referred to in some documents as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and linked in charges to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council — an entity the Presidency insists was never established by law, executive order or any other valid instrument. They say he forged an appointment letter purportedly issued by President Bola Tinubu and signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, on or about 8 March 2024. He is further accused of forging presidential letter-headed papers and other State House correspondence seeking collaboration with ministries, land allocation and office space across the 36 states, staff account approvals, and documents related to the purported take-off of the council.

According to the charge sheet, Adeyemi operated from an office on the second floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja. Court filings and earlier investigations indicate the purported agency obtained space inside the federal secretariat, featured in the 2026 Appropriation Act with an allocation of approximately N1.3 billion (about $950,000 to $1 million), and attempted to open accounts at the Central Bank of Nigeria. Investigators also reported that he operated 34 bank accounts, nine of them in the names of other allegedly fictitious entities including the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and related public-private partnership bodies. He is said to have held meetings with foreign diplomats and senior government officials and to have sought a note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate US visas for staff.

The Presidency has repeatedly disowned both Adeyemi and the council. Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila first raised the alarm in October 2025 after complaints that the body was operating at cross-purposes with legitimate agencies. He petitioned the Department of State Services and the police, describing an elaborate forgery and impersonation scheme involving falsified signatures, reference numbers and seals. Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga later confirmed that police forensic analysis supported the finding that the appointment letter and related documents were forged. An Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) probe, ordered by President Tinubu, similarly found no evidence linking Gbajabiamila or the State House to the appointment and concluded that the signature on the disputed letter had been fabricated.

Adeyemi was first arrested in October 2025 at his Federal Secretariat office. He was later released on police bail but failed to appear for arraignment on multiple occasions, prompting Justice Umar to issue a bench warrant. He was rearrested in Osun State shortly before Wednesday’s proceedings. His counsel, Genesis Francis, informed the court of a pending bail application that cited ill health, among other grounds. The judge declined to hear the application immediately because of a congested cause list and ordered that Adeyemi receive adequate medical attention while in custody.

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Adeyemi has consistently denied the allegations in previous public statements, insisting the council was legitimately established to attract foreign investment and that he was properly appointed. He has claimed he personally approached budget officials to secure the agency’s inclusion in the appropriation and has accused certain officials of demanding payments — claims the Presidency and Gbajabiamila’s camp have rejected. Prosecutors have not alleged that any serving government officials conspired with him.

The case has drawn attention to gaps in institutional verification processes that allowed a disputed entity to secure office space, engage public officials and appear in the national budget. Justice Umar adjourned the matter to 12 October 2026 for the hearing of the bail application and further proceedings. Adeyemi remains in Kuje prison pending the determination of his application for bail.