By Son Tertsea, Abuja

The Nigeria Police Force has intensified its effort to arrest Adeniyi Adeyemi, the purported Director-General of the disowned Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.

According to a police source, a team of officers dispatched from Abuja called at the home of Adeyemi’s parents in Ogbomoso last Wednesday and again on Monday, this week.

The source reportedly said Adeyemi’s parents told the police that he spent Monday and Tuesday in his hometown before leaving for Abuja on Wednesday. According to the source, the officers arrived a few hours after Adeyemi had left.

The officers who visited the family home last Wednesday briefly confiscated the parents’ phones.

In the hunt for the suspect, Oyo State Police Command has however clarified that it is not handling the investigation stating that the matter is being investigated by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Force Headquarters, Abuja.

The command said the case is of national interest and falls outside its jurisdiction.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, made the clarification while responding to enquiries about the alleged arrest of the father of Adeyemi Adeniyi, the purported Director-General of the council, in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

Ayanlade urged journalists and members of the public seeking updates on the matter to direct their enquiries to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

Relatedly, Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 elections has condemned the arrest of Adeyemi’s father, saying it’s an abuse of power.

In the X post by his media aide, Paul Ibe, the former Vice President described the arrest as an abuse of power.

Atiku said there is no provision in Nigerian law for substituted arrest, questioning the offence allegedly committed by Adeyemi’s father in relation to the controversy.

“It is an overreach, an abuse of power. Why did they allow Prince Adeyemi to sneak away and are now flexing their powers by arresting the father in his stead?” he asked.

He accused the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of focusing on minor issues while ignoring more important ones, and demanded the immediate release of the man.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, had on Monday alleged that police operatives arrested the father of Adeyemi, the central figure in the ongoing forgery investigation.
linked to the purported council.

Meanwhile, a South-West socio-cultural group, the Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, has faulted the N10 billion defamation suit instituted by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, over allegations linked to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, describing the action as a pre-emptive move aimed at frustrating an independent investigation.

In a statement signed by its President, Akin Malaolu, the forum said: “Following the disturbing allegations of bribery and kickbacks levelled against Gbajabiamila, and the government’s avowed commitment to establishing the truth, we are shocked that the Chief of Staff has chosen to threaten defamation suits rather than cooperate fully with efforts to get to the bottom of the matter.”

The forum said it was not opposed to any citizen, including Gbajabiamila, seeking legal redress. However, it questioned the basis of the suit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, convener of the PFIPC.

“We fail to see how a defamation suit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi can be sustained when security agents have arrested his father in Ogbomoso, Adeyemi himself has been arraigned by the government, and Gbajabiamila continues to feign ignorance of the ongoing investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS),” the statement said.

The group also criticised the Presidency, alleging that it appeared to be shielding the Chief of Staff from stepping aside to face both the civil suit and the criminal investigations.

“We must sound a clear warning: shielding an accused member of the Presidency is dangerous in the eyes of Nigerians and the Yoruba race.

“As leaders of thought in the South-West, we view any attempt to protect Gbajabiamila from resigning as a stain on the Yoruba race and on President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The criminal allegations in question are not matters any responsible government should condone. On the issue of Femi Gbajabiamila’s resignation, we stand firm,” the forum stated.

Gbajabiamila has given Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi 72 hours to retract the alleged defamatory claims made against him during a press conference on June 25, 2026, or face civil and criminal legal action.

The ultimatum was issued through Gbajabiamila’s legal counsel, Pinheiro LP, in a cease-and-desist letter dated July 6, 2026, and signed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro.

The letter described Adeyemi’s allegations as false, malicious, reckless and entirely without factual foundation.

The letter warned that failure to comply within 72 hours would trigger both civil and criminal proceedings.

According to the law firm, the civil suit would seek N10 billion in aggravated and exemplary damages to be paid to charities of Gbajabiamila’s choice, a perpetual injunction against further publications, and a court order compelling a retraction and apology.

Furthermore, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, has faulted the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation over its alleged failure to detect and stop documents relating to the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), which the Presidency has described as a non-existent agency.

Lawal said the SGF’s office should have identified the alleged fake agency long before its documents reached President Bola Tinubu, arguing that proper due diligence would have exposed the irregularity at an early stage.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television, Lawal reacted to the controversy surrounding the PFIPC following allegations linking its promoter, Adeniyi Adeyemi, to bribery involving senior government officials.

According to the former SGF, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation serves as the clearing-house for federal government agencies and is expected to verify the legal status of any institution seeking official recognition.

He argued that if the PFIPC was indeed not legally established, its documents should never have progressed through the government’s administrative process.

“If an agency is received, processed and forwarded without somebody in the SGF’s office asking exactly who these people are, then there is a dereliction of duty,” he said.

He explained that the SGF’s office keeps records of all legally recognised ministries, departments and agencies and should ordinarily confirm the existence of any organisation claiming federal status before forwarding its requests to the President.

Lawal further outlined the procedure for establishing federal agencies, noting that proposals are initiated by the President or a supervising minister, considered by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and, where necessary, backed by legislation before such agencies become legally recognised.

He maintained that these procedures make it difficult for a non-existent agency to gain official recognition unless there were serious institutional failures.

The former SGF also questioned how the alleged agency reportedly secured a government budget code and passed through the federal budgeting process despite claims that it had no legal backing.

Describing the development as evidence of institutional compromise, Lawal suggested that more individuals might have been involved in facilitating the process.

He noted that, every ministry, department and agency is required to defend its budget before the Budget Office of the Federation, making it unlikely that a non-existent organisation could obtain budgetary recognition without insider collaboration.

He also queried who approved the budget code for the alleged agency and how its proposal progressed through official channels before reaching the National Assembly.