A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), over his repeated failure to appear for arraignment.
Justice Muhammed Umar granted the order on Tuesday following an oral application by the prosecution counsel, Wisdom Madaki, after the defendant failed to appear in court to take his plea on an eight-count charge bordering on forgery, fraud and impersonation.
Although Adeyemi was absent from the proceedings, his counsel, Genesis Francis, announced his appearance before the court and opposed the application for an arrest warrant.
The prosecution told the court that the case had come up five times and that each adjournment had been at the instance of the defendant, arguing that his continued absence was delaying the commencement of trial. Relying on the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, the prosecution urged the court to compel the defendant’s attendance through a warrant of arrest.
In response, the defence lawyer attributed Adeyemi’s absence to alleged threats to his life, adding that the defendant had previously appeared in court when the matter came up in May.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Umar observed that the case was filed in November 2025 and that the defendant had appeared before the court only once since then. He noted that Adeyemi had failed to attend court on four consecutive hearing dates without sufficient justification.
The judge subsequently issued a bench warrant directing security agencies to arrest the defendant and produce him before the court for arraignment on September 30.
