•May repeat visit today as counsel’s presence stalls questioning
THE House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee investigating the controversies surrounding the purported Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC), on Friday, finally met with the embattled Director-General, Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi Mathew, in police custody.
The meeting, which took place at the facility where Adeyemi is being detained, was, however, brief, as Adeyemi insisted that he could not interface substantively with the committee in the absence of his counsel.
Sources familiar with the development told the Nigerian Tribune that members of the ad hoc committee, chaired by Honourable Yusuf Gagdi, visited Adeyemi as part of efforts to hear directly from him on allegations surrounding his purported leadership and activities of the organisation.
The sources said that although Adeyemi acknowledged the presence of the lawmakers, he maintained that he would not answer substantive questions or make any statement concerning the allegations until his lawyer was present to represent him.
The development, nevertheless, represents a major breakthrough for the committee, which previously encountered difficulties in securing Adeyemi’s appearance before the panel, particularly following his arrest and subsequent detention by the police pursuant to a court order.
The sources further disclosed that the committee may repeat the visit today, with the expectation that Adeyemi’s counsel would be present to enable the panel formally interface with Adeyemi and obtain his response to the allegations against him.
He is currently in police custody following a bench warrant issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja after he failed to appear for arraignment on an eight-count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, forgery and impersonation.
Justice Mohammed Umar had ordered his arrest after granting an oral application by the prosecution following the defendant’s absence when the matter was called. The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, has suffered several adjournments.
The charges filed by the Nigeria Police Force relate to Adeyemi’s alleged operation of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, an organisation the Presidency has reportedly said does not exist. At the proceedings leading to the bench warrant, prosecution counsel, Wisdom Madaki, applied for the arrest order, while Adeyemi’s lawyer, Genesis Francis, told the court that his client feared for his life.
Francis informed the court that Adeyemi had written to President Bola Tinubu over his concerns, stressing that his client wanted to remain alive to stand trial. Responding, Justice Umar said, “The court will help him be alive,” before ordering that a bench warrant be issued for Adeyemi’s arrest.
Earlier, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, had told the House committee on July 27 that the police could not simply produce Adeyemi before the lawmakers without a reproduction warrant from a competent court.
Disu was represented before the committee by an Assistant Commissioner of Police from the IGP’s office, Bashir Abdullahi.
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