ICPC amends charges against fake PFIPC DG

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has amended its charges against the purported Director-General of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, Adeniyi Adeyemi, increasing the counts from 22 to 36 and adding four defendants.

The new defendants are Aminu Abdullahi, Ogaba Harry, Florence Omameh and Patricia Akhigbe.

The development stalled the planned commencement of trial and hearing of Adeyemi’s bail application before the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Monday.

ICPC counsel, Sylvanus Tahir (SAN), informed the court that the amended charge, filed on November 3, had expanded the case into a joint trial involving five defendants.

He said the prosecution could not proceed with the arraignment because the fourth defendant, Omameh, was reportedly hospitalised.

Tahir told the court that although she had been served with the amended charge and proof of evidence, her absence had prevented the prosecution from proceeding with the arraignment.

He said, “Her unavailability in court has handicapped and constrained the prosecution from proceeding with the arraignment, this being a criminal charge.”

Relying on Section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the ICPC lawyer argued that an accused person was required to be present in court throughout criminal proceedings, subject to statutory exceptions.

He consequently sought a short adjournment to allow Omameh to recover and appear for her plea.

Defence counsel to Adeyemi, Ibrahim Angulu (SAN), did not oppose the amended charge or the request for adjournment, but reminded the court of his client’s prolonged detention.

The trial judge, Justice Halilu Yusuf, granted the application and adjourned the case until November 18 for the arraignment of all the defendants.

The judge directed that Adeyemi be returned to the Kuje Correctional Centre, while the other defendants were ordered to return to the ICPC detention facility.

The amended charge retains the allegations in the previous 22 counts while introducing additional allegations of official corruption, abuse of office, impersonation of a public servant, criminal conspiracy and giving gratification to public officers against Adeyemi.

In Count 25 of the new charges, the prosecution alleged that Adeyemi between February 12th, 2025 and April and and April, 2026 “did corruptly give the total sum of ₦560,000.00 (Five Hundred and Sixty Thousand Naira), in six (6) tranches…”, through third party accounts “to Ogaba Harry, Chief Accountant, Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, on account of his having granted you access to the offices of the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja, and released to you two official vehicles, a Prado Jeep and a Land Cruiser Jeep, without official authorisation.”

Counts 28 and 29 accused Adeyemi of giving and receiving gratification contrary to Sections 8(1)(a) and 9(1)(a), and punishable under Sections 8(1)(b)(ii) and 9(1)(b) of Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

ICPC also accused Adeyemi in Count 31 of “Criminal conspiracy contrary to Section 96 and punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code Cap. 532, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990.”

PUNCH Online reports that the commission had, on October 29, re-arraigned Adeyemi on 22 counts bordering on forgery, impersonation and fraud involving an alleged N30.8bn government funding request.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Adeyemi sought over N27bn as a take-off grant for the purported agency and another N3.8bn for personnel costs by allegedly forging official government documents.

It accused him of forging documents purportedly signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, appointing him as the director-general of the council.

The commission also alleged that he forged correspondence addressed to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency to secure government recognition, financial approval and a domain name for the purported agency.

The prosecution further accused Adeyemi of occupying government office facilities at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja, using the allegedly forged appointment documents.

In the previous charge, Adeyemi was also accused of offering N210,000 to Abdullahi, an Assistant Chief Technical Officer in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to facilitate the allocation of office space without official authorisation.

He was similarly accused of offering N300,000 to Harry, an official in the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, to facilitate the release of two government vehicles, a Prado SUV and a Land Cruiser SUV.

The commission further alleged that Adeyemi obtained N20m from the Managing Director of Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, Oyekunle Gbenga, under the pretence of a project facilitation loan connected to a purported N2.8bn contract for furniture, electronics and the refurbishment of the director-general’s official residence.

The alleged offences were said to have been committed between 2024 and 2026.

The case followed a petition by Gbajabiamila to the Inspector-General of Police and the Department of State Services over Adeyemi’s claim to head the council.

Investigations reportedly uncovered correspondence between the purported agency and several government ministries, departments and agencies, as well as 34 bank accounts linked to its operations, including nine allegedly opened in the names of purported government agencies.

President Bola Tinubu had, in July, directed the ICPC to investigate the activities of the council, which the Presidency said had never been established by the Federal Government and had no legal basis.

The allegations against Adeyemi are yet to be established before the court.