Court Orders Arrest Of Adeyemi Over Missed Arraignment In PFIPC Scandal

After Adeniyi Adeyemi, the controversial self-proclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), failed to show up for his scheduled arraignment, Justice Muhammad Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

Wisdom Madaki, the police attorney, made an oral application before Justice Umar issued the arrest order.

Adeyemi was charged with eight counts of forgery, fraud, and impersonation, and he was asked to enter a plea.

Despite the fact that the case was number 12 on the court’s cause list, the defendant did not show up for his arraignment, despite Genesis Francis, his attorney, announcing his appearance.

The prosecution’s attorney pointed out shortly after the case was called that the defendant had consistently missed his trial.

“My lord, this is the fifth time this case is coming up, and all the adjournments have been at the instance of the defendant,” the police lawyer lamented.

Consequently, relying on Section 394 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, the prosecution counsel urged the court to issue a warrant for his arrest.

The defense attorney opposed the application right away, claiming that his client’s absence from court was due to threats against his life.

The defense attorney pointed out to the court that his client showed up for his arraignment on May 16, even though he claimed the case was later postponed.

After hearing from both attorneys, Justice Umar declared that he was prepared to grant the request to issue an arrest warrant for the defendant.

Although the case was filed on November 27, 2025, the court observed that proceedings did not start until December 4, 2025.

Justice Umar noted that since the charge was filed, the defendant had appeared before the court only once.

“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” Justice Umar added.

As a result, Justice Mohammed Umar issued a warrant requiring security services to apprehend the defendant and bring him before the court on September 30 for arraignment.