Breaking: Court strikes out charge against alleged ‘fake’ PFIPC DG Adeyemi
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday struck out the eight-count forgery charge brought against the self-styled Director-General (DG) of the alleged "non-existent" Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council…
The case centres on claims that an entity calling itself the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) was operating without any legal backing, with an individual, Adeniyi Adeyemi, presenting himself as its Director-General. Nigerian authorities have in recent years stepped up scrutiny of bodies that adopt official-sounding names implying presidential or federal government endorsement, as such outfits can be used to solicit funds, court foreign investors, or lend false legitimacy to business deals under the guise of state authority.
The Federal Government had charged Adeyemi with an eight-count forgery case, but the Federal High Court in Abuja struck out the charges over what Nairametrics describes as "prosecution loopholes," rather than ruling on the substance of the allegations. BusinessDay reports that the government now intends to re-arraign him, suggesting prosecutors plan to refile the case after addressing the procedural defects. The coverage leaves open questions about what specifically went wrong with the charge sheet, when a fresh arraignment might occur, and what, if anything, becomes of the PFIPC itself while the matter is unresolved.