Alleged ‘Fake’ Presidential Agency DG Adeyemi Fights for Freedom in Exploding PFIPC Scandal

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered law enforcement authorities to grant Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled Director-General of the disputed Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), unhindered access to his legal team, while refusing his request for immediate bail.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu delivered the ruling in a fundamental rights enforcement suit brought by Adeyemi, who has been in police detention following his arrest at a hideout in Osun State pursuant to a bench warrant. While the judge granted the prayer permitting the detainee to consult with legal counsel of his choice, the court declined to order his release on bail or authorize visits from private doctors pending formal responses from security agencies.

Instead, the court directed the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Nigeria Police Force, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to show cause within 72 hours explaining why Adeyemi should not be admitted to bail, adjourning the matter to September 9 for further proceedings.

Through his legal counsel, Adeyemi approached the court seeking six distinct reliefs. In addition to demanding bail over alleged deteriorating health in custody, he prayed for an order barring investigators from interrogating him or extracting statements without his lawyers being present.

The court battle is the latest twist in the high-stakes scandal surrounding the PFIPC, an outfit described by federal authorities as an entirely fictitious entity. According to an interim police investigative report initiated after a petition from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Adeyemi allegedly orchestrated an elaborate scheme using forged State House letterheads, fake official seals, and cloned reference numbers to convince unsuspecting victims and state governments that the council was a legitimate federal agency. Investigators allege he even established an operational base on the second floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja.

The controversy intensified after Adeyemi claimed from hiding that he was the victim of a political setup, alleging he paid ₦400 million through an intermediary to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, to obtain the top job—claims that the presidency and Gbajabiamila have denied as fabricated blackmail. The intrigue was further complicated by the death of the alleged intermediary, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, who died in a hotel fire in Abuja.

Adeyemi, who is also scheduled to be arraigned before Justice Mohammed Umar on a separate eight-count charge of forgery and impersonation, maintains that the council was backed by official processes and has demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigation into the saga, including how a ₦1.3 billion budgetary provision for the council was inserted into the national appropriation bill.