The Nigerian Police have arrested the father and a family friend of Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled figure accused of posing as the Director-General of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, as investigations into the controversial, alleged fake government agency intensify.
The arrests were disclosed by prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), who alleged that police operatives stormed the family residence of Adeyemi’s parents and took his father into custody along with a family friend who was visiting at the time.
Falana criticised the action, describing it as an unlawful case of “substituted arrest.”
According to him, there is no legal justification for arresting a suspect’s relative, particularly when the individual being sought has reportedly undertaken to appear before the court.
Adeyemi is currently facing charges bordering on alleged forgery, impersonation and related offences over claims that he falsely presented himself as the head of the PFIPC, an entity the Presidency has maintained was never established by the Federal Government. The matter is before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Falana insisted that criminal liability should be determined strictly through the judicial process, maintaining that law enforcement agencies must operate within the confines of the law.
The latest development comes amid growing controversy surrounding the alleged council, following claims that it received budgetary allocations despite questions over its legal status.
Also on Monday, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) reiterated that the disputed PFIPC did not successfully open an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and that no public funds were released to the body, despite budgetary provisions linked to it.
The controversy has continued to generate public debate, with opposition figures, civil society groups and legal practitioners calling for a transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged creation and operations of the purported council.
Vanguard
