ICPC Amends Charges Against Purported PFIPC Director General, Arraignment Stalled

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has amended the charges against Adeniyi Adeyemi, the purported director general of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), increasing the number of counts from 22 to 36.

Prosecution counsel Sylvanus Tahir, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, informed the court on Monday that four other defendants had also been included in the amended charge.

The defendants are Aminu Abdullahi, Ogaba Harry, Florence Omameh and Patricia Akhigbe.

The case was initially filed by the Nigerian Police, while Monday’s proceedings had been scheduled for the hearing of Adeyemi’s bail application.

However, the amendment of the charge required all the defendants to be present in court to enter their pleas, preventing the court from proceeding with the scheduled hearing.

The arraignment was subsequently stalled because the fourth defendant, Omameh, was absent on health grounds. The other defendants were present.

Tahir told the court that her absence had prevented the prosecution from proceeding with the arraignment, which requires the defendants to be present.

“Her unavailability in court has constrained the prosecution from proceeding with the arraignment, this being a criminal charge,” he said.

Relying on Section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Tahir argued that an accused person must be present in court throughout the trial, subject to the exceptions provided by the law.

He consequently asked the court for a short adjournment to allow Omameh to recover and participate in the arraignment.

Defence counsel to Adeyemi, Ibrahim Angulu, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, did not oppose the amended charge or the request for an adjournment.

However, he drew the court’s attention to Adeyemi’s prolonged detention.

Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned the case until November 18 for the arraignment of the defendants.

The judge ordered that Adeyemi be returned to the Kuje Correctional Facility, while the other defendants were to be taken back to the ICPC detention facility.