The controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal took a dramatic turn on Monday after operatives of the Nigeria Police Force reportedly arrested the father of the council’s promoter, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, triggering outrage from senior lawyers, human rights advocates and fresh pressure on the Presidency.
The development came as the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation insisted that no public funds were released to the controversial council despite its appearance in the 2026 Appropriation Act, while senators moved to distance the National Assembly from the contentious budget allocation.
Adeyemi, who claims to be the Director-General of the PFIPC, is currently standing trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on conspiracy, forgery and impersonation. The Federal Government has listed Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, among its prosecution witnesses.
The alleged arrest of Adeyemi’s father has intensified concerns over the handling of the case.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, confirmed that police officers reportedly stormed the family’s residence in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, and arrested Adeyemi’s father while his elderly mother was left traumatised. Eyewitnesses said the officers arrived in several vehicles before taking him away to a police station.
The Nigeria Police Force did not officially confirm the arrest. Force Headquarters spokesman, Anietie Iniedu, said he had not been briefed and requested details of the unit responsible. Subsequent attempts to obtain clarification were unsuccessful.
The reported arrest immediately provoked widespread condemnation from the legal community.
President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), warned that Nigerian law prohibits arresting relatives merely to compel a suspect to surrender or cooperate with investigators. However, he noted that the arrest would be lawful if Adeyemi’s father was himself a suspect or a person of interest in the investigation.
Several other Senior Advocates of Nigeria, including Prof. Sam Erugo, Isiaka Olagunju, Wolemi Esan and Wahab Shittu, echoed similar positions, citing Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, which expressly prohibits “arrest in lieu.”
According to them, criminal responsibility is personal and cannot be transferred to family members, except where there is independent evidence linking such relatives to the alleged offence.
Human rights organisation, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Adeyemi’s father, describing the arrest as unconstitutional and a violation of both Nigerian law and international human rights conventions.
The organisation warned that the use of substitute arrests undermines public confidence in law enforcement and the rule of law.
The controversy has further complicated a scandal that has raised serious questions about governance and public financial management after the Presidency disowned the PFIPC despite the council appearing in the 2026 federal budget with a N1.3 billion allocation.
Adding another dimension to the controversy, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation maintained that no money was ever released to the council.
The Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa, explained that although an application was initiated to open a government account for the PFIPC, the process was never completed because the required signatories were not provided.
“As far as government records are concerned, there was no operational account and therefore no public funds could have been released,” he explained, adding that implementation of the 2026 budget only commenced on July 1, by which time the controversy surrounding the council had already emerged.
The clarification, however, has not resolved the bigger question of how a council disowned by the Presidency found its way into the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The issue has also drawn the National Assembly into the spotlight.
Several senators defended Senate President Godswill Akpabio and lawmakers against allegations that they approved funding for a non-existent agency, insisting that the legislature neither created the PFIPC nor originated its budget.
They argued that budget proposals are prepared and vetted by the Executive before being transmitted to the National Assembly for appropriation, adding that lawmakers consider estimates submitted by government agencies rather than verify their legal establishment.
The Senate is expected to confront the controversy when plenary resumes, amid growing public demands for accountability and transparency over the appearance of the disputed council in the federal budget.
The scandal has continued to generate political and legal ripples following earlier revelations that official correspondence from the PFIPC was reportedly processed by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation months before the Presidency publicly denied the council’s existence.
With criminal proceedings against Adeyemi already before the Federal High Court and fresh questions surrounding the reported arrest of his father, the controversy is rapidly evolving from an alleged forgery case into a broader test of government accountability, budget integrity and adherence to the rule of law.
