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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has expanded its prosecution of Adeniyi Adeyemi, accused of parading himself as the director-general of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), filing an amended 36-count charge against him and four additional defendants.
The prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, disclosed this on Monday before Justice Yusuf Halilu, explaining that the commission had increased the original 22-count charge to 36 counts.
The four additional defendants are Aminu Abdullahi, Ogaba Harry, Florence Omameh and Patricia Akhigbe.
The case, initially instituted by the Nigeria Police, was scheduled for the hearing of Adeyemi’s bail application on Monday. However, proceedings were disrupted following the amendment of the charge, which requires all the defendants to take their pleas.
The arraignment could not proceed because the fourth defendant, Omameh, was absent from court on health grounds, preventing the prosecution from taking the pleas of all the accused persons.
Tahir told the court that her absence had stalled the arraignment, insisting that all defendants must be present for the criminal proceedings to continue.
“Her unavailability in court has constrained the prosecution from proceeding with the arraignment, this being a criminal charge,” he said.
Relying on Section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), the prosecution counsel argued that an accused person must be present in court throughout the trial, subject to the exceptions provided by law.
He consequently asked the court for a short adjournment to allow the absent defendant to recover and participate in the arraignment.
Adeyemi’s counsel, Ibrahim Angulu, SAN, did not oppose the amended charge or the request for an adjournment but drew the court’s attention to his client’s prolonged detention.
In his ruling, Justice Halilu adjourned the case 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.
