Fake Agency Trial: Adeyemi yet to show up in courtroom for scheduled arraignment

Adeniyi Adeyemi, who faces criminal charges for runinng and the actitivities of the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has yet to appear at the Federal High Court in Abuja for his arraignment scheduled for Tuesday.

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By mid-day on Tuesday, Mr Adeyemi, who skipped previous proceedings on health grounds, had yet to be seen in the courtroom where the trial judge, Mohammed Umar, started the day’s court sessions at some minutes past 10 a.m.

Mr Adeyemi’s case is number 12 on the court’s cause list for the day. Although, his case was not set for any particular time, parties to the cases listed for hearing for the day, especially a defendant in a criminal trial whose presence in court is mandatory, is expected to be in court by 9 a.m., as the judge does not have to follow the order in which cases appear on the cause list.

The judge commenced the day’s sitting with the hearing of a pre-election case at about 10 a.m.

He was on the third case as of the time of filing this report at about 12. 50 p.m., yet Mr Adeymi has yet to show up in the courtroom.

Although, it remains uncertain if Mr Adeyemi will eventuallly appear in the courtroom by the time the judge gets to his case’s turn, his team of lawyers are in court to represent him.

Two lawyers – Genevieve Oke and P. Usman – entered their names in the defence lawyers’ column against Mr Adeyemi’s case’s entry on the cause list for Wednesday’s court session.

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Charges

The Nigerian government, through the Nigerian police, charged Mr Adeyemi on 27 November last year with eight counts of conspiracy, forgery and impersonation.

In Counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 7 and 8, 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 forgery 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 5, 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 in prison 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.

Background

PREMIUM TIMES has extensively reported on the fake agency scam, with the federal government accusing Mr Adeyemi of operating the purported PFIPC, an agency it said does not exist.

The controversy became public after Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila disowned Mr Adeyemi and the PFIPC. The Presidency maintained that no such agency existed under President Bola Tinubu’s administration and that Mr Adeyemi was never appointed to head it.

Police investigations began after Mr Gbajabiamila petitioned the Inspector-General of Police and the State Security Service (SSS) on 17 October 2025, alleging forgery and impersonation.

Investigators arrested Mr Adeyemi on 27 October 2025 at an office he allegedly operated within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja. They also searched his office and residence in Suleja, Niger State, recovered official correspondence exchanged with several Ministries, Departments and Agencies and traced 34 bank accounts allegedly linked to him, including nine opened in the names of purported government agencies.

Mr Adeyemi has maintained his innocence in press statements, media interviews, and correspondence to the authorities.

Recently speaking with social media influencer and activist, Martins Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan, Mr Adeyemi denied preparing the fake agency’s budget that was included in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

He said he was in police detention during the period the budget was being processed.

During the interview, he also softened his earlier position on the alleged involvement of the President’s Chief of Staff, Mr Gbajabiamila, in issuing him the ‘appointment letter’ for the now-disowned agency. He said he could not say for certain whether Mr Gbajabiamila was involved or not. Mr Gbajabiamila has since issued him a pre-action notice to withdraw his claims accusing him of corruption, abuse of office, fraud and murder or face a N10 billion defamation suit and criminal proceedings.

READ ALSO: Fake Agency Scam: Police to arraign Adeniyi Adeyemi on Tuesday

Court records reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES showed that Mr Adeyemi remained in police custody for 23 days before he was granted administrative bail on 19 November 2025 after submitting a medical report.

Although the case, filed in November last year, first came up for arraignment before Judge Umar on 3 February, the proceedings have been adjourned four times.

At the first hearing on 3 February, the defence sought more time after telling the court it had only recently been served with the charges. Despite the prosecution’s objection that the charges had been served about two weeks earlier, the judge granted the application and adjourned the case to 11 February.

The matter did not proceed on 11 February because the judge was attending a judicial workshop and the court did not sit. The parties later took a fresh date before the registrar, and the case was rescheduled to 14 April.

On 14 April, Mr Adeyemi was absent. His lawyer informed the court that he was ill and presented a letter to that effect. Although the prosecution opposed another adjournment, the judge deferred the case until 16 June.

Mr Adeyemi appeared in court on 16 June, but his lawyer sought another adjournment after informing the court that he was unwell and unable to proceed. The court granted the request and fixed 14 July (today) for the arraignment.