JUSTICE Muhammed Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the controversial self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, following his failure to appear before the court for his scheduled arraignment.
News Point Nigeria reports that Adeyemi was expected to take his plea on an eight-count charge bordering on alleged forgery, fraud, and impersonation but failed to appear in court despite the matter being listed on the day’s cause list.
The case, which was listed as number 12 on the court’s cause list, proceeded without the defendant’s physical presence, although a lawyer, Genesis Francis, announced appearance on his behalf.
Shortly after the matter was called, the prosecution counsel, Wisdom Madaki, informed the court that the defendant had repeatedly failed to appear for proceedings despite several adjournments granted by the court.
“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 told the court.
Relying on Section 394 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, the prosecution counsel urged Justice Umar to issue a warrant for Adeyemi’s arrest to compel his appearance before the court.
The application was, however, opposed by the defence counsel, who attributed his client’s absence to alleged threats to his life.
The defence lawyer informed the court that Adeyemi had previously appeared for his arraignment on May 16, adding that the matter was later adjourned to another date.
After listening to arguments from both sides, Justice Umar ruled in favour of the prosecution, stating that the circumstances surrounding the repeated absence of the defendant warranted the issuance of an arrest warrant.
The judge noted that although the charge was filed on November 27, 2025, proceedings only commenced on December 4, 2025.
Justice Umar further observed that Adeyemi had appeared before the court only once since the filing of the charge and had failed to attend subsequent proceedings on four consecutive dates.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” the judge stated.
Consequently, Justice Umar issued a bench warrant directing security agencies to arrest Adeniyi Adeyemi and produce him before the court on September 30 for his arraignment.
Adeyemi is facing an eight-count charge involving allegations of forgery, fraud, and impersonation, allegations he has yet to respond to before the court.