The Court has struck out FG’s charges against the ‘fake’ PFIPC agency DG, Adeniyi Adeyemi.
Glamtush reports that Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has struck out the eight-count criminal charge brought against the alleged fake Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, by the Federal Government.
Justice Umar struck out the case before him following a request by the federal government to that effect and on the basis that the accused person would be moved to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory for fresh arraignment.
At the day’s proceedings, Counsel for the Prosecution and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rotimi Oyedepo, moved the application for the termination of the charges.
Oyedepo told the Judge that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, AGF, carried out a review of the case file of Adeyemi and the charge filed by the Inspector General of Police and found some loopholes.
Among others, he said that the documents allegedly forged by Adeyemi during his operations of the fake agency are those that can be prosecuted by the High Court of the FCT and not the Federal High Court.
The DPPF said that a new charge has been filed at the High Court of the FCT and that Adeyemi would be expeditiously arraigned afresh.
He urged the Judge to strike out the charge as required by law.
Following no objections from the Counsel to Adeyemi and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ibrahim Angulu, Justice Umar struck out the charge accordingly.
Adeniyi was being tried alongside two others whose whereabouts were unknown, on charges bordering on Alleged conspiracy and forgery.
Police authorities arrested Adeyemi in Osun State on July 14. Before then, the Federal High Court, Abuja, had ordered his arrest after failing to honour the court’s summons.
He is the alleged mastermind of the “fake” PFIPC, which operated as a government agency, had an office space at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, and also allegedly recruited staff without legal backing.
Adeyemi alleged Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, took N400m through a proxy to facilitate his appointment as the head of the “fake” agency, a claim the former has denied.
In the wake of the controversy, President Bola Tinubu ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter.
When the ICPC submitted its interim report to Tinubu, the agency’s chairman, Musa Aliyu, said preliminary findings revealed that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government.
Aliyu said the purported appointment letter, gazette, and other documents used to establish the agency were forged.
“Our recommendation is that Mr Adeniyi Adeyemi should be prosecuted. Administrative sanctions should also be imposed on public officers whose acts of omission and negligence facilitated the illegal operation of PFIPC/PEAC.
“There is also a need for institutional reforms so that the internal controls of MDAs can be strengthened to prevent this kind of illegal activity,” he said.
The House of Representatives also investigated how the fake agency operated within government institutions. It’s ad-hoc committee described the appointment letter received by Adeyemi as fake.
A former Head of Service of the Federation, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who appeared before the committee, admitted that due diligence was not thoroughly carried out in the process that led to the recognition of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
Walson-Jack accepted responsibility for the lapse, saying her office relied on documents that appeared authentic without subjecting them to sufficient verification.
