AUTHORITIES have detained Adeniyi Adeyemi, the Director-General of the Presidential Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), at the headquarters of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Abuja, located within the premises of the former Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) facility.
According to reports, Adeyemi was arrested in Osun State by operatives of the Police Intelligence Response Team led by Chief Superintendent of Police Moses Lohor.
He was subsequently moved to Ibadan before being flown to Abuja following a warrant issued by Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Sources disclosed that Adeyemi has been undergoing interrogation over allegations linked to the operation of PFIPC, an organisation government authorities have described as a non-existent or unauthorised federal agency.
Yesterday, the embattled official was reportedly seen boarding a private aircraft bound for Abuja.
The development follows President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the controversy surrounding the council and submit its findings within 30 days.
When contacted, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Iniedu, said he would seek updates on Adeyemi’s status and provide further information, but had not done so at the time of filing the report.
However, a senior police officer familiar with the matter confirmed that Adeyemi is being held at the IRT headquarters in Guzape, Abuja, where investigators are questioning him over allegations of unlawfully presenting PFIPC as a Federal Government agency, among other issues currently under investigation.
The source clarified that the arrest was carried out by IRT operatives and not by officers attached to any police command.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has filed a ₦15 billion defamation suit against Adeyemi over claims that he requested a 48 per cent kickback from a ₦27.3 billion take-off grant allegedly approved for a federal agency.
Filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, the suit seeks ₦10 billion in general damages, ₦5 billion in aggravated damages, and ₦200 million to cover legal costs.
Gbajabiamila is also asking the court to compel Adeyemi to issue a public retraction and apology in five national newspapers and to pin the apology on all social media platforms and online channels where the allegations were published for a period of 30 days.
