Justice Muhammed Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), following his repeated failure to appear for arraignment in an ongoing fraud and forgery case.
The arrest order came on Thursday after the prosecution counsel, Wisdom Madaki, made an oral application citing the defendant’s consistent absence from court proceedings.
Adeyemi is facing an eight-count charge bordering on forgery, fraud, and impersonation. He was scheduled to take his plea on the charges, but when the matter—listed as No. 12 on the court’s cause list—was called, the defendant was nowhere to be found. A lawyer, Mr. Genesis Francis, announced his appearance on his behalf, but his physical absence frustrated the arraignment.
Presenting his application for the arrest warrant, police lawyer Wisdom Madaki expressed frustration over the defendant’s conduct, noting that the case had suffered multiple adjournments at Adeyemi’s instance.
“My lord, this is the fifth time this case is coming up, and all the adjournments have been at the instance of the defendant,” Madaki lamented.
Citing Section 394 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which empowers the court to compel the appearance of a recalcitrant defendant, the prosecution urged Justice Umar to issue a warrant for Adeyemi’s arrest to ensure his production in court.
In opposition, defence lawyer Mr. Genesis Francis pleaded with the court to withhold the warrant, attributing his client’s absence to alleged threats to his life. He also reminded the court that Adeyemi had been present for his initial scheduled arraignment on May 16, before the matter was subsequently adjourned.
However, Justice Umar was not persuaded by the explanation.
Delivering his ruling, the judge noted that the charge sheet was filed on November 27, 2025, but proceedings did not formally commence until December 4, 2025. He observed that since the filing of the charge, 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 stated.
The judge ruled that the repeated absence amounted to an abuse of court process and a deliberate attempt to stall justice. He therefore granted the prosecution’s application and issued a bench warrant mandating all security agencies to arrest Adeyemi and produce him before the court.
What Next
Justice Muhammed Umar has adjourned the matter to September 30, 2026, for the defendant’s arraignment—with or without his voluntary appearance. The warrant empowers law enforcement officers to apprehend Adeyemi anywhere within the jurisdiction and bring him to face the eight-count charges relating to his controversial leadership of the PFIPC, an agency whose legal status has also come under scrutiny.
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