By Ayodele Oni 

Despite denials of its existence,  Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, (PFIPC), received an official approval from the Federal Government to recruit 300 members of staff.

This has triggered questions:

“If the Presidency insists that the PFIPC was a fabrication from beginning to end, how did a formal recruitment waiver emerge from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service?

“How did an agency said not to exist have an “Approved Establishment” upon which recruitment was authorised?

“And how did detailed recruitment instructions involving the Budget Office, Federal Character requirements and official monitoring come to be issued?”

According to documents released on August 7, 2025, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation issued a formal waiver approving the recruitment of 300 personnel for the PFIPC. 

The letter, signed by Mimi Abu, Director of Organisation Design and Development, was necessary because the Federal Government had placed an embargo on general recruitment into the civil service. 

In other words, this was not an ordinary approval. It was a special exemption given to Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi.

It reportedly authorised the recruitment of 10 Directors on Grade Level 17.

20 Assistant Directors on Grade Level 15.

Dozens of administrative officers across various grade levels.

45 planning officers.

32 commercial officers.

22 investment promotion officers.

26 accountants.

10 legal officers.

And procurement officers, programme analysts, information officers, statisticians, technical officers, confidential secretaries, drivers and several other categories of staff, bringing the total approved positions to 300.

Even more remarkable is the language of the letter itself.

It states that the approval was “based on and limited to the 2025 Approved Establishment position of the Agency.” Read that line again!

Think about that for a moment.

Not the “purported agency.”

Not the “alleged agency.”

The Agency according to the head of service of the federation.

The letter also directed the PFIPC to obtain clearance from the Budget Office before recruitment, comply with the Federal Character principle, reserve five percent of the positions for persons living with disabilities.

It was also directed to ensure officials from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service monitored the exercise, and submit the names of all successful candidates for official records.

These are not instructions one ordinarily associates with an organisation that supposedly never existed.

Then came another interesting detail.

Just 24 hours after the waiver was issued, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi publicly celebrated the approval, thanking President Bola Tinubu for what he described as the government’s support.

 He also announced that approval had been secured to establish PFIPC offices in all 36 states and to roll out 127 international offices around the world.

Whether those additional claims were true is a separate matter.

But the larger question refuses to go away.

These are no longer questions that can be brushed aside with a simple denial. They deserve clear, verifiable answers from every institution whose name appears in this paper trail.

Because from the look of things, Nigerians may have been taken for a very expensive ride.

By Ayodele Oni

As his whereabout remains unknown, the self acclaimed Director General, (DG) of disputed Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has deactivated his social media account.

He has also taken down several personal websites as scrutiny over his activities continues to intensify.

This is coming after his father was arrested and detained, following inability of the police to locate him.

Checks showed that his main Facebook account, @Emperor2019, which previously documented his activities, is no longer accessible. A website linked to the profile has also gone offline.

The Presidency has accused Adeyemi of forging a government appointment letter and falsely presenting himself as the head of the PFIPC, an agency it insists does not exist.

Before the account disappeared, it reportedly had about 9,300 followers. On the page, Adeyemi described himself as an “astute administrator” and “financial wizard,” while portraying himself as a senior government-affiliated official.

The account featured posts about diplomatic engagements, high-level meetings, and a pre-summit dinner attended by diplomats, development partners, government officials, and private sector stakeholders.

Websites linked to projects associated with Adeyemi have also been removed, including one promoting the 2026 World Investment Summit, scheduled for October.

The summit, themed “Unlocking Capital, Accelerating Development, Driving Prosperity,” had been advertised as a platform capable of attracting ₦5 trillion in foreign direct investment.

Other online platforms connected to his earlier initiatives, including the proposed World Youth Economic Summit and World Youth University, have also become inaccessible.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has filed an eight-count charge against Adeyemi before the Federal High Court, accusing him of forgery and impersonation.

According to the charges, he allegedly forged official documents and falsely claimed to be the head of the PFIPC.

Adeyemi has denied the allegations, insisting he did nothing wrong.

He has also accused the government of spreading falsehoods and vowed to clear his name in court.

The case has also sparked public questions about how the disputed council allegedly secured a budget allocation, opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, obtained office space within the Federal Secretariat, and had senior civil servants assigned to it despite the Presidency’s claim that the agency never existed.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) has however denied existence of any account link to the controversial agency.

By Ayodele Oni

Reactions have been trailing the invasion of the residence of the parent of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled Director General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, (PFIPC) and arrest of his father.

The alleged arrest has deepened the controversy surrounding the purported council, which has been linked to an alleged N1.3bn “ghost agency” scandal and which the Federal Government had earlier disowned as having no legal or administrative backing.

Adeyemi, who claims to be the Director-General of the council, is currently standing trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on conspiracy, forgery, impersonation and related offences.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, who is a Counsel to Adeyemi  condemned the reported arrest of the father of Prince  Adeyemi, describing it as an unlawful “substituted arrest” if carried out merely to compel his son’s appearance.

Falana said police operatives allegedly stormed the residence of Adeyemi’s parents at Plot 3, Adeniyi Dynasty, behind Technical College, Road Safety Area, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, on Monday and arrested his father, alongside a family friend who had visited the home.

According to him, the suspect had already promised to appear in court, making the arrest of his father legally unjustifiable if the father was not independently linked to any offence.

“Police have now stormed the house of the parents of Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, Plot 3, Adeniyi Dynasty, behind Technical College, Road Safety Area, Ogbomoso.

“The father has been arrested. There is no legal basis for substituted arrests. The young man has promised to show up in court, so why arrest his father?” Falana said.

Residents of the area also alleged that police officers arrived at the premises in four vehicles before taking Adeyemi’s father away.

One resident claimed that the officers harassed those present and prevented neighbours from intervening before leaving with the elderly man.

Another eyewitness said Adeyemi’s father was taken away with a visitor, while his elderly mother was left in shock and later moved away by neighbours.

As of the time of the report, the Nigeria Police Force had not issued a detailed official statement explaining the legal basis for the alleged arrest.

The Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA)and several Senior Advocates of Nigeria, warned that Nigerian law does not permit the arrest of relatives merely to pressure a suspect.

NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, stated that  although the circumstances of the arrest were still unclear, the law forbids arresting one person in place of another.

According to him, if Adeyemi’s father was arrested simply to put pressure on his son, such an arrest would be unlawful.

“If a person is arrested for the purpose of putting pressure on a suspect who cannot be found, or to compel a person who is being investigated to surrender, then it is unlawful,” Osigwe said.

He, however, noted that the position would be different if the father was arrested in his own right as a suspect or person of interest.

Prof. Sam Erugo, SAN, also said it is unlawful to arrest a father for an offence allegedly committed by his son, citing Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, which prohibits arrest in lieu.

Another SAN, Isiaka Olagunju, said criminal responsibility is personal and cannot be transferred to relatives, except where there is evidence linking the relative to the alleged offence.

Wolemi Esan, SAN, described arrest in lieu as having no place in Nigeria’s legal system, saying it is prohibited by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the Nigeria Police Act, 2020.

Dr. Wahab Shittu, SAN, also described such practice as “substitutional arrest,” stressing that the police power of arrest is not unlimited and must comply with the Constitution and the ACJA.

He said Section 35 of the Constitution guarantees personal liberty, while Section 7 of the ACJA expressly provides that “a person shall not be arrested in place of a suspect.”

Shittu added that if Adeyemi’s father was arrested solely to pressure his son in connection with the pending trial, the arrest would be unlawful.

He, however, pointed out that the legal position would be different if the police could establish independent evidence linking the father to the alleged offences.

The Force Headquarters spokesperson, Anietie Iniedu, said he had not been briefed on the alleged arrest and requested details of the specific police unit involved.

The Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, said the matter was being handled by the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Force Headquarters, Abuja, and therefore fell outside the jurisdiction of the state command.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has denied releasing any public funds to the controversial council.