The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi after he failed to appear for his scheduled arraignment on charges regarding the activities of the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Mohammed Umar, the presiding judge, issued the warrant for the defendant’s arrest on Tuesday following an oral application by the prosecution.
The judge waved away Mr Adeyemi’s lawyer excuse for his client’s absence to issue the arrest order.
The defence lawyer said his client was absent from court because he feared for his life and that he had written a letter to President Bola Tinubu regarding it.
Not swayed by the assertions, Judge Umar responded by telling the lawyer that the court would “help him to be alive.”
The judge then issued a bench warrant for Mr Adeyemi’s arrest.
He then set 30 September as the new date for defendant’s arraignment.
Mr Adeyemi faces eight charges relating to his running and operation of purported PFIPC, an agency the Presidency has said does not exist.
The case had suffered several adjournments before Tuesday’s proceedings.
Adeyemi’s case was listed as number 12 on the court’s cause list. Although no specific time was fixed for the hearing, parties in matters scheduled for the day, particularly defendants in criminal cases whose presence is mandatory, are expected to be in court before proceedings begin.
The federal government, through the Nigeria Police Force, filed an eight-count charge against Mr Adeyemi on 27 November last year, accusing him of conspiracy, forgery and impersonation.
In counts one, two, three, four, six, seven and eight, the prosecution, led by Wisdom Madaki, accused Mr Adeyemi and two others identified as Femi and Anu, who are said to be at large, of conspiracy and forger
y involving several official documents.
The documents include a purported presidential appointment letter, State House letterheads, a conveyance approval for the take-off of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), requests for approval of staff accounts, requests for office space and letters seeking collaboration with a federal ministry.
In count five, the prosecution alleged that Mr Adeyemi falsely presented himself as the Director-General of the PFIPC, an offence punishable under Section 179 of the Penal Code.
If convicted, Mr Adeyemi faces up to 21 years’ imprisonment without the option of a fine on the forgery-related counts. The impersonation charge carries a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment or a fine.
