The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled director-general of the allegedly fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) hours after a Federal High Court in Abuja issued a bench warrant for his arrest over allegations of forgery, fraud and impersonation.

Police sources confirmed that Adeyemi was arrested on Tuesday by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Osun State, before he was moved to Abuja where he is expected to remain in custody pending his arraignment before the Federal High Court on 30 September.

The Force’s public relations officer, CSP Anietie Okokon Edem Iniedu, confirmed the development, saying Adeyemi was arrested in compliance with the court’s directive.

A video of the arrest which circulated shortly after the operation showed Adeyemi dressed in a light blue traditional outfit and surrounded by armed security operatives.

When asked to identify himself, he refused to give a straight answer at first. I have said it, sir,” he told the officers. The operatives kept asking him his name. “Your name?” “Say it for us, will you?” demanded one officer. “I have said it many times,” Adeyemi said.

Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the arrest of Adeyemi after he failed to appear for his scheduled arraignment on an eight-count charge of forgery, fraud and impersonation, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025,

The arrest warrant was granted after an oral application by the prosecution counsel, Mr Wisdom Madaki, who argued that the defendant had repeatedly frustrated the commencement of his trial by continuously absenting himself from court.

“This is the fifth time this case is coming up, and all the adjournments have been at the instance of the defendant,” Madaki told the court.

The prosecution urged the court to issue a warrant of arrest to compel Adeyemi’s attendance pursuant to Section 394 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

The defendant did not appear but his lawyer Mr Genesis Francis announced appearance on his behalf and opposed the application.

Francis said Adeyemi was not in hiding, but had security concerns.

He said his client had appeared in court on 16 May before the matter was adjourned. However, he said subsequent developments had exposed him to serious threats.

‘Since then, this case has become a matter of public importance, and there have been many threats to his life,’ the defence counsel said.

“The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to stand trial. “They have been looking for him even without an order of court,” the lawyer argued.

But justice Umar held that the court record showed consistent non-appearance of the defendant.

The judge noted that although the charge was filed on 27 November 2025 and the proceedings started on 4 December 2025, Adeyemi had appeared before the court only once.

He has since failed to show up in this court on four consecutive dates,” the judge ruled before issuing the warrant ordering security agencies to arrest and produce him in court on 30 September for arraignment.

Adeyemi was taken to Abuja after his arrest in Osun State, and is expected to remain in police custody ahead of his court date on 30 September.

Meanwhile, the prosecution has lined up several prominent witnesses expected to testify during the trial.

They include the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; Ituah Sylvester; officials of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu; and a Deputy Superintendent of Police involved in the investigation.

Police investigations said Adeyemi cooked up an elaborate scheme involving forged appointment letters and official government documents to make it look like the PFIPC was a legitimate federal agency.

According to investigators, the investigation started after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police on 17 October 2025, over alleged forged appointment letters purportedly issued by the office.

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The petition claimed that the forged documents contained false signatures, reference numbers, official seals and the Nigerian Coat of Arms and that the documents were used to appoint persons to the purported Council.

The investigators further alleged that Adeyemi posed as the director-general of the PFIPC and operated from an office in the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.

Adeyemi had granted an interview before his arrest where he denied evading security agencies, insisting that he had only gone into hiding over alleged threats to his life.

“I am ready to show my face, he said in an interview on Channels TV. I’m not in hiding. I am only afraid of my life because I have good evidence that my life is endangered.” “There have been several attempts on my life.

Adeyemi also attributed his decision to stay out of the public eye to the death of one of his associates, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, who reportedly died in a hotel fire in Abuja.

Tanimola, he said, was a key intermediary in the PFIPC controversy and the circumstances surrounding his death had further heightened concerns for his own safety.

He also stuck to his controversial allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to Gbajabiamila to secure his appointment as director-general of the PFIPC.

He said those who financed the alleged payment have petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover their money.

Adeyemi has consistently denied that the PFIPC is a fictional organisation.

In an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, he called for the establishment of an independent multi-stakeholder investigation panel into the issue surrounding the council and the alleged plan to allocate N1.3 billion to it in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.

He promised to provide documentary evidence and cooperate with investigators if such a panel was fully constituted.

Adeyemi suggested that the panel should comprise representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights organisations, diplomatic missions, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

ICPC, meanwhile, was ordered by President Bola Tinubu to probe all claims and counterclaims about the alleged fake agency.

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A witness for the prosecution, Jim Obazee, told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Friday that one of the special dollar accounts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had a negative balance of N2.858bn after the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of $6.2m from the apex bank.

Obazee, the 15th prosecution witness, testified in the trial of former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele before Justice Hamza Muazu.

Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an amended 20-count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery, obtaining by false pretence and conferment of corrupt advantages involving $6.23m.

Led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), Obazee allegedly released the money from the CBN Abuja branch on February 3, 2023 as funds for foreign election observer logistics during the 2023 general election.

According to him, the withdrawal was made without naira cover as required for dollar transactions which had pushed the account to a negative balance of N2,858,150,196.42.

“Emefiele and the chief accounting officer of the bank should have seen the development,” he said.

“You can’t walk out of the bank until you balance the account,” he said.

The witness said that the transaction did not leave the bank with the proper documentation of the receiving officer.

Obazee told the court that there was no evidence that the funds ever reached foreign election observers or had any economic benefit for the Federal Government or the CBN.

The money was actually taken, but it didn’t go to the intended beneficiaries,” he said.

His team began its investigation by probing internal control weaknesses at the apex bank and questioning officials of internal audit, he said.

He said a letter written by former President Muhammadu Buhari to the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, authorised the release of funds for election observers logistics.

He said a subsequent letter from Mustapha to Emefiele introduced one Jibril Abubakar as the person to collect the money.

The witness also said that the CBN’s Bank Verification Number (BVN) portal was down for over a month before the withdrawal, thus it was not possible to verify the identity of the person that withdrew the money.

He also alleged that the CBN official that received and processed the payment documents was redeployed to the governor’s office 56 days after the transaction, and not through the normal procedure.

Obazee said some of the money was recovered from one Bashir Maishanu who allegedly confessed to the crime and handed $856,500 over to the special investigation team.

He said Maishanu should be tried with Emefiele.

While being cross-examined by Emefiele’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), Obazee admitted that criminal charges had already been filed against Emefiele in September 2023, before President Bola Tinubu’s directive in December 2023 for him to prepare charges against the former CBN governor.

He also said all persons interviewed by the special investigation team, including Emefiele, denied any knowledge or involvement in the transaction.

Justice Muazu held that Obazee is not a forensic document examiner and cannot be asked in cross-examination to authenticate Emefiele’s signature on exhibits tendered before the court.

The matter was adjourned to 20.10.2026 for adoption of final addresses.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the Managing Director of Abu-Haneefa Oil and Gas Limited, Musa Farouk Abubakar, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged fraud and money laundering case involving the sum of ₦691.7 million.

Abubakar and his company, Abu-Haneefa Oil and Gas Limited, and Sandra Chizoba Attoh were arraigned before Justice Obiora Egwuatu, on Wednesday, it was reported.

The defendants now face an amended 15-count charge of conspiracy, fraud, corruption and money-laundering.

The anti-graft agency charged that Abubakar transferred ₦297 million from the account of Abu-Haneefa Oil and Gas Limited with Zenith Bank to an Access Bank account of Attoh in July 2025. The EFCC said the money was suspected to be proceeds of corruption.

It also claimed that later in the same month, Abubakar helped to transfer ₦262.9 million from Attoh’s Access Bank account to an account of Mshell Homes Limited with Taj Bank.

The money, investigators said, was used to acquire a property located at Kapital Villa, Guzape, Abuja and the funds, they insisted, were linked to illicit activities.

The three defendants denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty when the charges were read in court.

After the plea, EFCC lawyer, Rita Ogar, asked for a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending the hearing of the case.

Counsel to Abubakar and his company, Ishaka M. Dikko, told the court that an application for bail had been filed on May 19, 2026, on behalf of the first defendant.

He also told the court that the defence had been served with the prosecution’s reply to the application and prayed that his client be kept in EFCC detention while the matter was being considered.

Attoh’s lawyer, Y. G. Haruna (SAN), also told the court that he had filed a bail application on behalf of his client on June 1 and got a response from the prosecution the next day.

The EFCC opposed the bail applications on the ground that it had strong evidence against the defendants.

The prosecution said it had filed counter-affidavits supported by documentary exhibits and prayed the court to dismiss the applications.

“After hearing submissions from both sides, Justice Egwuatu ordered that Abubakar should be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, pending further proceedings and until his legal team responds to the prosecution’s counter-affidavit.

But the judge granted Attoh bail in the sum of ₦200million with two sureties of same amount.

He said the sureties must be resident within Abuja and must also provide their passport photograph and valid means of identification.

They should also own property. The other must be a civil servant of Grade Level 15 or higher, and must submit appointment and latest promotion documents to the court.

The case was adjourned for trial to September 1 and 2, 2026.

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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, has arraigned controversial social media influencer and self-styled relationship therapist, Okoro Blessing Nkiruka, popularly known as Blessing CEO.

It was reported that in a statement released via the EFCC social media page, it was disclosed that Blessing was arraigned on Friday, May 15, 2026, before Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, over an alleged N36 million fraud.

Blessing was charged on a two-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence and stealing to the tune of ₦36,000,000.00 (Thirty-six Million Naira).

At the beginning of proceedings, defence counsel, P.I. Nwafor, told the court that the defendant had returned part of the money to the petitioner.

“We have an application to submit,” he said. The defendant approached the nominal complainant and refunded the sum of N24 million out of the N36 million.

“We are requesting a short adjournment to pay the balance. The nominal complainant said he will prevail on the EFCC to drop the case if the balance is paid.

The prosecution counsel, S.I. Suleiman, in his response, said that the prosecution was not aware of any discussion between the defendant and the nominal complainant.

“The complainant here is the Federal Government of Nigeria and we are here for arraignment. “We urge the defendant to take her plea, that is the business of the day.”

Justice Dipeolu, in his ruling, said “the defence and the nominal complainant can have discussions even during the pendency of the charge. It does not interfere with the proceedings before the court. The defendant will plead.”

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A prosecution witness in the alleged N8.7 billion money laundering trial of the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Wednesday, told a Federal High Court, Abuja that the Zenith Bank filed Suspicious Transaction Reports on transactions linked to the former minister’s accounts.

“I am a compliance officer at Zenith Bank,” Mashelia Arhyel Bata testified before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja.

Malami is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, on an amended 16-count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, concealment and laundering of N8.7 billion said to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

In his cross-examination by the defence counsel, the witness, Adebayo Adedeji, SAN, admitted that the deposits reflected in the account statements were in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said, however, the bank continued to file Suspicious Transaction Reports as required by regulators.

“But we had to file Suspicious Transaction Report. “We did file,” the witness told the court.

There was some little drama during re-examination when the prosecution counsel, J.S. Okutepa, SAN, asked the witness to explain what a Suspicious Transaction Report was.

The defence objected to the question, saying that there was no ambiguity in the earlier testimony of the witness that needed clarification.

The objection, however, was overruled by Justice Abdulmalik when the prosecution cited section 215(3) of the Evidence Act.

The witness added that “suspicious transaction reports are normally filed when funds are deposited in repetitive or unusual patterns.”

“You must flag to the NFIU any deposit of funds that you see in a pattern or repetitive,” he said.

The witness further testified that his duties as a compliance officer were to answer correspondence from law enforcement agencies, and that he was not the account officer or the relationship manager for the accounts under investigation.

After hearing the testimony, the court discharged the witness and adjourned the matter till May 22 for continuation of trial.

The post Alleged N8.7bn Fraud: Witness Tells Court Zenith Bank Flagged Malami’s Suspicious Transactions appeared first on TheNigerian.

After a fairly lengthly break, the criminal proceeding against the former Managing Director/CEO, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), and others, resumed sitting on April 28, at the Special Offences Court sitting before Justice Mojisola Dada, in Ikeja, Lagos State, with the 4th witness, Mr Bawa Usman Kaltungo, finishing his testimony.

The long court saga is connected with the case of Ahmed Kuru, the former Managing Director/CEO of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) who is on trial with Kamilu Alaba Omokide, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Union Bank Plc and Super Bravo Limited over an alleged fraud of N76 billion and $31.5million linked to Arik Air (in receivership).

At the end of Kaltungo’s testimony, counsel to the First and Third defendants, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, who began cross-examining the EFCC witness, established that Kaltungo may not have done a thorough job of his assignment as an EFCC investigator, as most of his testimony was based on assumptions, and not proper documentation of due processes, adding that his testimony revealed that the Commission never engaged the services of a forensic accountant to establish the status of Arik’s indebtedness.

Kaltungo also disclosed that as the lead investigator, he had no accounting background and this called into question his evidence and report on the Arik indebtedness.

“There was no need,” he said, for the forensic audit or accounting background as his position as Investigator was “sufficient.”

” Kaltungo, in his testimony, made desperate attempts to mislead and impose his personal opinion when he claimed that Mr Oluseye Opasaya SAN, the first AMCON-appointed Receiver Manager (RM) acted outside the ambit of his duties and engagement framework when he proceeded to act as an RM over the affairs of Arik, contrary to being a Receiver, he added.

However, under cross-examination, Prof. Osipitan, SAN, clarified this position by asking the witness whether in the course of his investigation, he knew as a fact that the appointment of the RM was backed and recognised by a lawful Court Order. ‘I’m just an investigator,’ he said, looking almost lost.

Prof. Osipitan, SAN, asked Kaltungo if at any point of investigation, he ever saw any document or records establishing a nexus between First and Third defendants in the sale of the embattled Arik loan from Union Bank to AMCON. Kaltungo said there was none. He also confirmed under cross examination that there was no nexus between the First and Third Defendants in the sale of the shares of Arik in Zenith Bank towards the liquidation of the Arik loan. This new development brought a sudden end to the noisy exuberance of the investigator that Kaltungo had exhibited throughout the period of his testimony.

It would be recalled that the EFCC had dragged the former MD of AMCON, and others to court, following a petition by Mr Femi Falana on behalf of the promoter of Arik Air involving the ex-AMCON MD/CEO, Ahmed Kuru, Kamilu Omokide, a former receiver manager of Arik Air Ltd; Captain Roy Ilegbodu, the airline’s CEO, Union Bank Ltd; and Super Bravo Ltd. The matter has been adjourned to 18 and 19 May, 2026 for further hearing.

Further, Kaltungo testified that he tried to submit a Legal Opinion from the Office of the Solicitor General which he said buttressed his findings as an Investigator, but the cross-examination showed that the Legal Opinion was obtained long after the defendants were charged and the trial had started.

“The disclosure appeared to have indicted the evidence as a side issue and a frantic attempt to find a legal opinion to support an unfounded allegation.

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Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede has disclosed how he probed the lead pastor of the Streams of Joy International and convener of the New Season Prophetic Prayers, NSPPD, Jerry Eze for six months.

Olukoyede said EFCC investigated Eze for money laundering but found nothing against him.

The boss of the anti-graft agency spoke at the Jerry Eze Foundation Business Grant Award in Abuja.

He said: “Sometimes I wish we change the word church and mosque, while we use the phrase of an assembly of righteous people who have the spirit of God, rather than using a church.

“You have bishops in church and you have Imams in mosques and I tell you that I have a lot of them in my holding facility as I talk to you and I have a lot of them that are convicted for fraudulent practices, it’s so sad.

“I’m going to embarrass you today, I never felt like saying it but that’s my little way of making my contribution.

“I investigated Pastor Jerry Eze for six months on alleged money laundering. We work by petitions and intelligence.

“You had an account in which dollars and pounds were falling like rain drops from Colombia, America, Sri Lanka and even Togo. We checked him out and found nothing suspicious.”

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In connection with claims of fraud at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Federal High Court in Abuja issued an order on Tuesday for the ultimate confiscation of three properties and N3.4 billion in cash.

In a decision on a notice for final forfeiture of the assets filed by Martha Babatunde, the attorney for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Justice Joyce Abdulmalik approved the request.

The assets comprise a two-bedroom apartment at Block 2, Apartment Al, Block EFG, Osbourne Foreshore Il, Ikoyi, Lagos, and an unfinished six-bedroom semi-detached duplex with boys’ quarters at Plot 3168, Asokoro District, Abuja.

Salihu Nuhu is the owner of the restaurant building located in Plot 102, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja.

N3, 440, 000, 000.00 is the amount of money in the EFCC Recovery Account.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the money and the lost properties were allegedly the profits of illegal activity from three significant contracts that the NNPCL awarded to three contractors.

The projects included the Benin Gas Plant Project, the Maiduguri Emergency Power Project (MEPP), and the Abuja Independent Power Project (Abuja IPP), all of which Mr. Salihu Nuhu Jamari allegedly had considerable influence and control over while he was Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Gas and Power Investment Company Limited (NGPIC).

When the matter was summoned on Tuesday, Maryam Abba, who represented Mr. Jamari, the interested party, told the court that Jamari had complied with the court’s order to file an affidavit of non-contestation at the last postponed date.

Abba claims that Mr. Saliu Jamari himself filed and deposed to the document.

The motion for the final forfeiture of the assets and funds was subsequently made by Babatunde.

She stated that the EFCC requested a final forfeiture order for the assets specified in the schedule in the motion dated March 17 and submitted on the same day.

She stated that the motion was accompanied by an 18-paragraph affidavit, 11 exhibits, and a written address.

She asked, “We filed a written address as our oral submission in urging this honorable court to grant our application, the motion, having been unopposed.”

According to the attorney, the court ordered the commission to publish this in accordance with an interim order given on February 25 and invited any interested parties to explain why the final decision should not be made.

According to her, the instruction was followed and appeared in Punch Newspaper on March 3.

According to Babatunde, there was no reason why the properties and money shouldn’t be given to the Federal Government permanently.

The attorney, who attended as an interested party on March 31, stated that Jamari had no objections to the assets’ final forfeiture to the Federal Government, according to Justice Abdulmalik’s ruling.

She declared, “Therefore, I grant the order for final forfeiture of the properties and the funds attached to the motion to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

A group of EFCC attorneys led by Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, submitted a move for the final seizure of the properties and the monies. The anti-graft agency provided six reasons why its request should be approved.

Iheanacho argued that it was a non-conviction-based asset forfeiture action and that the court had the statutory authority to provide the relief under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

Abdullahi Aminu, an investigator for the commission, stated in his affidavit that a petition alleging conspiracy, kickbacks, bribery, and money laundering involving some NNPCL employees and contractors had been received, with Salihu Nuhu Jamari’s name appearing prominently.

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Robert Orya, a former managing director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), was given a 490-year prison sentence by a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja.

On Thursday, February 5, Orya was found guilty of several fraud-related allegations that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, had brought against him.

Samuel Ugwuegbulam, an EFCC attorney, brought charges against the former head of NEXIM, who oversaw the bank from 2011 to 2016, for allegedly embezzling N2.4 billion.

Orya was found guilty on all 49 counts by Justice F. E. Messiri, who also sentenced him to 10 years in jail for each of the counts.

However, the court mandated that each term be served concurrently.

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