The purported Director General of the “fake” Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, on Tuesday failed to appear in court, giving an indication that he may have run for cover.
He was billed to appear before a Federal High Court in Abuja along with two other persons.
Adeyemi was to take his plea before Justice Mohammed Umar on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
In the case, listen as Number 12 on the cause list, Adeyemi was no where to be found when the matter was called by the Court.
With his non-appearance before the court, there are indications that the police may issue a bench warrant for his arrest anywhere he is found.
Adeyemi has been talking from hiding since when the matter became public. A day ago, he spoke on phone with a reporter on a television programme.
The charge against Adeyemi and two other defendants was filed on November 27, 2025, by a police prosecutor, Wisdom Madaki.
Among those billed to testify in the matter are the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester.
Other witnesses are civil servants working in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
Speaking during the television programme, Adeyemi denied running from justice.
“I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger.
“There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council.
According to Adeyemi, those from whom he borrowed the N400 million he used to secure the appointment had since dragged him before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Adeyemi, in the course of the television programme, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.