The legal bid by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled Director-General of the controversial and disputed Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), suffered a major setback at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, September 10, 2026, after the presiding judge declined to hear his fundamental rights enforcement suit.
The court returned the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment, halting Adeyemi’s urgent push to secure his release from police detention.
Adeyemi, who was arrested in Osun State following a bench warrant issued against him, had approached the court seeking six main reliefs to enforce his fundamental human rights.
Adeyemi, through his legal team, requested an order for his immediate release from custody, bail pending the conclusion of investigations, access to medical personnel of his choice, and an order restraining the police from interrogating him without his lawyers present.
While the court previously ordered security agencies to grant him access to his legal counsel at reasonable hours, the substantive application for his release was stalled after the presiding judge declined to proceed with the hearing and remitted the file back to the Chief Judge.
Speaking on behalf of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the PFIPC controversy, Committee Chairman Rep. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi reaffirmed that the council lacks any legal foundation under Nigerian law.
”We found no valid Act of the National Assembly, gazetted enactment, Presidential Executive Order, or administrative instrument establishing an institution known as the PFIPC,” Gagdi stated during a briefing on the panel’s findings. “Financial tracking shows that identifying details associated with Adeyemi are linked to a network of dozens of bank accounts across multiple entities.”
In response to allegations previously raised by Adeyemi, representatives from the Presidency issued a public clarification, firmly denying any association with the disputed council or its leadership.
”The office of the Chief of Staff to the President first blew the whistle on the existence of the illegal agency,” a Presidency spokesperson stated. “The fake documents, bearing falsified signatures and reference numbers, were used to claim leadership appointments to non-existent entities. The police were instructed to carry out full investigations into the individual and the entity he purports to represent.”
Adeyemi remains in police custody and is facing an eight-count charge bordering on alleged forgery, impersonation, and fraud. His plea on the criminal charges before Justice Mohammed Umar is slated for September 30, 2026.
