PFIPC DG Adeyemi Rejects Secret House Probe, Demands Public Hearing

• Detained PFIPC DG Adeniyi Adeyemi has rejected plans by the House of Representatives to question him behind closed doors.

The purported Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has rejected the House of Representatives’ decision to question him at an undisclosed location while he remains in police custody, insisting that any appearance before lawmakers should be conducted publicly.

Adeyemi, through his lawyer, Ademola Oyedokun, said on Wednesday that he welcomed the House investigation into the alleged establishment and operations of the PFIPC but opposed plans to interrogate him behind closed doors.

According to the lawyer, fairness requires that Adeyemi be given the opportunity to publicly respond to allegations that were made against him during the committee’s open hearings.

“We have read that the committee intends to interview our client at an undisclosed date and place. We ask it, respectfully, to think again.

“Everyone else in this matter has been heard in public, and what has been said about our client was said in public. He should be allowed to answer in the same place it was said,” the statement read.

Oyedokun urged the committee to invoke its constitutional powers under Section 89 of the Constitution to compel the police to produce Adeyemi before a public sitting.

“Section 89 of the Constitution gives the committee power to summon any person and to compel his attendance.

“We ask it to use that power and to require the police to produce our client at a public sitting.

“He will attend on any date it names, with his counsel, and answer every question put to him,” he said.

The lawyer noted that while the criminal allegations against Adeyemi would be addressed before the Federal High Court and relevant investigative agencies, the House inquiry into how the PFIPC was created and whether government officials acted upon it should be conducted transparently.

“Our client does not ask the committee to compromise any investigation. He will answer in public the questions this committee was constituted to ask, and will reserve, upon legal advice, any question touching a matter before a court or an agency.

“Those may be taken separately and in private. What cannot be right is that the whole of his account be taken behind a closed door because part of it is sensitive.”

He added, “We will not argue our client’s case in a press statement. The allegations are before the Federal High Court and before several agencies, and they will be answered there, on oath.

“But this committee is asking a different question: how this council came to exist, and who in government acted upon it.

“That question our client is anxious to answer, and Nigerians are entitled to hear it answered in public. We ask only that they remember, meanwhile, that no court has yet heard him say a single word.”

Oyedokun also challenged the legality of Adeyemi’s continued detention, arguing that the bench warrant relied upon by the police only authorised his arrest and appearance before the Federal High Court, not prolonged detention.

The House of Representatives ad hoc committee had earlier announced that it would question Adeyemi at an undisclosed location while he remains in police custody.

Committee Chairman Yusuf Gagdi said the arrangement was necessary to avoid interfering with ongoing investigations by the Nigeria Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The committee is investigating allegations surrounding the establishment and operations of the PFIPC, including claims of impersonation, forgery, financial impropriety and the unlawful use of government facilities and official insignia.