ICPC Amends Charges Against Alleged Fake Presidential Council DG, Increases Counts to 36

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

The amended charge also lists four other defendants: Aminu Abdullahi, Ogaba Harry, Florence Omameh and Patricia Akhigbe.

ICPC prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, informed the court on Monday that the commission had expanded the original 22-count charge to 36 counts. The case was initially instituted by the Nigeria Police Force.

The proceedings, which were scheduled for the hearing of Adeyemi’s bail application, could not proceed as planned because the amended charge required all the defendants to be arraigned afresh and enter their pleas.

However, the arraignment was stalled following the absence of the fourth defendant, Omameh, who was reportedly unavailable on health grounds. The other defendants, including Adeyemi, were present in court.

Tahir told the court that the prosecution could not proceed with the arraignment in the absence of one of the defendants, citing Section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

He argued that an accused person was required to be present in court throughout criminal proceedings, subject to the exceptions provided by the law.

The prosecution counsel consequently requested a short adjournment to enable Omameh to recover and appear in court to take her plea.

Adeyemi’s lawyer, Ibrahim Angulu, SAN, did not oppose the amended charge or the request for an adjournment. However, he drew the court’s attention to his client’s prolonged detention.

In his ruling, Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned the matter until November 18 for the arraignment of the defendants.

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

The development was reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).